automatic thought

n. 1. In cognitive therapy, habitual thoughts that occur so rapidly that they are barely conscious and that guide a person's mood, attentional focus, and actions, often without the person's realizing that they are doing so. Becoming conscious of these thoughts allows a person to change them to more accurate ones which are better guides to feeling, thinking, and acting. 2. Thoughts that have been so well learned that they no longer take conscious effort or attention.