Research article summary (published 28 Feb 2008):

Nonconscious goal pursuit in novel environments: the case of implicit learning.

Full Abstract

Is nonconscious goal pursuit useful in novel environments? The prevalent view of automaticity and control implies that an unconscious mode of goal pursuit can only reproduce formerly learned actions, and therefore that its usefulness in novel environments is very limited. Our results demonstrate that this conclusion is not always warranted, as nonconscious goal pursuit facilitated participants' learning of the structure of completely novel environments. Specifically, two experiments, using markedly different implicit-learning paradigms, demonstrated facilitation of implicit learning when the goal of achievement was primed. We propose that nonconscious goal pursuit can facilitate not only reproductive operations, but also productive ones, and that implicit learning is sensitive to the organism's nonconscious goals.

Author information

Author/s: Eitam, Baruch (B); Hassin, Ran R (RR); Schul, Yaacov (Y);

Affiliation: The Hebrew University, Department of Psychology, Mt. Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel. beitam(-atsign-)mscc.huji.ac.il

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS (Psychol Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Mar; vol 19 (issue 3) : pp 261-7

Dates: Created 2008/03/04; Completed 2008/04/30;

PMID: 18315799, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Achievement Awareness Cues Goals Humans Mental Recall Motivation Orientation

Orientation Pattern Recognition, Visual Problem Solving Reaction Time Serial Learning Social Environment Unconscious (Psychology) Verbal Learning

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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