conscious nonconscious conscious = to be aware, awake, knowing and understanding things nonconscious = to be asleep, in a coma, or not aware of one's thinking or analysis of something. To have a goal, is to try to achieve something, "She had a goal of losing 2Kg by the end of the year, which meant she had to lost 200g per week" (or whatever). That is a conscious goal; a desired achievement that you want to attain and you plan to do so. An nonconscious goal is probably something like the idea of wanting to do something but not thinking it clearly enough to realise that it's an achievement that you wish to make. It's partly debatable and it is argued that the nonconscious may not exist. Say I had an uneasy feeling, and something was upsetting me, it could be that my nonconscious mind was sad that I wasn't doing something that I should, but because it wasn't clear what that something was, I'd never make it a real goal, therefore easing the sadness that not reaching the goal was creating. To be honest, I think the quoted paragraph is, "bollocks". (vulgar slang for nonsense). "It addressed the question of how likely someone is to reach a goal when the goal is nonconscious compared with when the goal is consciously pursued." It's obvious, if you don't have a conscious goal, how can you pursue it?? Of course it's highly unlikely that someone will reach a nonconscious goal. Reaching a nonconscious goal is about as likely as finding where I live just because you come to Newcastle and, "have a look". I suppose there could be a question of, "could nonconscious minds, guide us to our goals, by affecting the way we feel?". And I suppose the answer to that is yes, it happens all the time - some people call it destiny. Anyway - I think the paragraph is daft :) But good question from you.

Katerina, nonconscious goal......a goal that we pursue without being 100% aware of it conscious goal...........a goal that we are aware of pursuing Which goal will you reach? You have decided as a conscious GOAL to buy a warm pair of socks. You head toward the nearest market with the intention of buying warm socks. When you arrive, you notice a pair of warm Russian hand made wool socks for 200 rubles. They are of very good quality. Then you notice at another table a pair of Nike socks for 250 rubles. They are cotton and of lesser quality. Will your exposure to the Nike image activate a nonconscious prestige-oriented GOAL causing you to buy the expensive NIKE brand?

They were testing if knowing about a goal and trying to reach it actually helps an individual, or would they have been able to reach it if they were unaware of a set goal.

If you consciously pursue something, you make every effort to achieve your goal. If you do not consciously (non conscious) pursue a goal, for example hoping something will happen for you, by maybe someone else, it's likened to leaving it to fate.