Nonconscious (or unconscious) processes are all the processes people are not consciously aware of. As opposed to what most people think, nonconscious processes make up most interesting psychological processes. People are only consciously aware of a very limited subset of psychological processes.

There is logic behind this division of labor between nonconscious and conscious processes whereby consciousness is only involved in a very limited subset. First, consciousness can generally do only one thing at a time. You cannot simultaneously engage in two activities that both require conscious attention (e.g., watching a good movie and reading a book). Second, the amount of information consciousness can process is very limited. In the 1950s, researchers tried to compare the amount of information consciousness can handle with the amount all ...