Conscious and Unconscious Processes in Goal Pursuit

It is hard to miss that we are capable of consciously reflecting on our thoughts, our doings, and the world around us. When we wake up in the morning, conscious experiences usually follow quickly and remain with us during the day. When it comes to our actions, we reflect on the things we do, the things we did, and the things we are going to do. These conscious reflections are a defining feature of our species. For Descartes, they even provided proof of our very existence. Because these conscious reflections often accompany our actions, it is not a surprise that the scientific investigation of human behavior-heavily influenced by Descartes-has assigned a key role to consciousness: Our goals and actions are assumed to originate in our conscious minds and to be guided by our conscious reflections on what we do.