Conscious and Unconscious Thought Reading Answers

Feb 26, 2025

Conscious and Unconscious Thought Reading Answers is a generic topic for IELTS Reading Answers. Conscious and Unconscious Thought Reading Answers has 13 IELTS questions. In the first set of questions (from Questions No. 28-31), match the given statements with the given options labeled in letters. After that, in the next set of questions (from Questions No. 32-34), you must answer all the questions in not more than ONE WORD. Then, on the remaining questions (from Questions No. 35-40), answer the following statements in either TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN options.

The IELTS Reading Section assesses candidates' skills in understanding and interpreting the given passages, testing comprehension through various passages. In this article, you will engage with a series of IELTS Reading Practice Tests that simulate real test scenarios. Whether you're studying for academic or general training modules, working on these IELTS Reading questions will familiarize you with the overall test structure and increase your confidence for the real exam.

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Section 1 Conscious and Unconscious Thought Reading Answers

Great scientists and artists have long known about the unconscious mind. The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, argued that most of our real motivation lies below conscious awareness and that we require the services of a psychoanalyst to explain ourselves to ourselves. Even those celebrated scientists who believe Freud exaggerated the importance of the unconscious argue that it is a part of the inner mind that we should learn to control and take advantage of.

The great mathematician Alfred North Whitehead seemed to be a supporter of unconscious mental processing when he said: “It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copybooks and by eminent people making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking about what we are doing. The opposite is the case.” What Whitehead meant by this is that some of the greatest breakthroughs in creativity occur when a problem is consciously shelved for a while – “don’t think about it, just sleep on it” – after which the unconscious mind offers a solution. This is a process which psychoanalysts call “incubation.”

Now the latest psychological research confirms that we can all incubate a concern to our advantage. Ap Dijksterhuis, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, has recently published a series of experiments in which students were presented with complex everyday concerns to solve. In one experiment, they were allowed to think carefully about a decision; in another experiment, they were distracted by an irrelevant task while making a decision. The surprising result, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, was that ‘unconscious’ thinkers made better decisions.

Timothy Wilson and colleagues from the University of Virginia’s psychology department conducted another experiment. Participants were presented with five posters and asked to choose one to take home. A little later, they telephoned and asked how satisfied they were with their choice – a measure of whether they made the right decision from a subjective point of view. Some participants picked their posters straight away, whereas others were asked to analyze carefully the pros and cons of each poster. It turned out that people who had analyzed and weighed the various attributes had made relatively poor decisions.

The conclusion that has to be drawn from current research suggests the somewhat counter-intuitive idea that the more complex a problem is, the less likely it becomes that conscious thought could contribute much. If a dilemma is particularly difficult, a lot of information has to be taken into account, and it appears that conscious thought is not good at this. The message is that when it comes to intricate problems with many variables, you should let the unconscious deal with them.

Using dreaming is one way of doing this. Dreams are the part of sleep most strongly correlated with rapid eye movement (REM) and have been associated with enhanced creativity and novel solutions. The latest research suggests that, if you want to enhance unconscious problem-solving, you should try to think about your concerns immediately after dreaming. In a recent experiment, psychiatrist Matthew Walker and colleagues from the Laboratory of Neurophysiology at Harvard Medical School woke half of their experimental subjects immediately after REM sleep, and the other half just after sleep with no dreams, and then asked them to solve crossword puzzles. REM awakenings led to a 32 percent advantage in the number of puzzles solved compared with non-REM awakenings. But you don’t have to be asleep to use your unconscious mind when you are not thinking of anything in particular, which is why daydreams are so useful in the quest for solutions. Daniel Goleman, the famous psychologist who proposed the theory of emotional intelligence, urges us to be more aware of, and discount, a key obstacle that the conscious mind often encounters: that of self-censorship. This is the fear of what others will say or think about our ideas, keeping you imprisoned within the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable. Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at Harvard University, suggests that we deserve a break from the restriction of always doing things the same way. By seeking to go beyond routine and convention, you will gain confidence in trusting your unconscious, he says.

Section 2 Solutions and Explanations

Questions 28-31

Look at the following statements and the list of people below. Write the correct letter, A-F. Match each statement with the correct person, A-F.

LIST OF PEOPLE:

A. Alfred North Whitehead

B. Ap Dijksterhuis

C. Timothy Wilson

D. Matthew Walker

E. Daniel Goleman

F. Howard Gardner

28. People find it easier to solve problems at a particular point in the sleep cycle.

Answer: D (Matthew Walker)

Supporting statement: “.......REM awakenings led to a 32 percent advantage in the number of puzzles solved compared with non-REM awakenings..........”

Keywords: Awakenings, Puzzles, Advantage, Solved

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 9-10

Explanation: Matthew Walker's research highlights the benefits of solving problems immediately after REM sleep. REM awakenings led to a 32% improvement in puzzle solving compared to non-REM awakenings.

29. People should change their general behavior patterns to benefit more from the unconscious.

Answer: F (Howard Gardner)

Supporting statement: “.......Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at Harvard University, suggests that we deserve a break from the restriction of always doing things the same way. By seeking to go beyond routine and convention, you will gain confidence in trusting your unconscious, he says...........”

Keywords: Break, Restriction, Routine, Convention

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 18-21

Explanation: Howard Gardner suggested that breaking away from routine and traditional patterns helps individuals build confidence in trusting their unconscious mind, thus benefiting from subliminal thought.

30. When solving problems, people should try to ignore negative thoughts.

Answer: E (Daniel Goleman)

Supporting statement: “.........Daniel Goleman, the famous psychologist who proposed the theory of emotional intelligence, urges us to be more aware of, and discount, a key obstacle that the conscious mind often encounters: that of self-censorship.........”

Keywords: Theory, Emotional, Conscious Mind

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 13-16

Explanation: Daniel Goleman emphasizes ignoring negative thoughts by discussing self-censorship, where fear of judgment limits creativity. Ignoring such thoughts helps in unleashing creative potential.

31. People can come up with ideas that are more innovative if they temporarily put a concern aside.

Answer: A (Alfred North Whitehead)

Supporting statement: “.........What Whitehead meant by this is that some of the greatest breakthroughs in creativity occur when a problem is consciously shelved for a while – “don’t think about it, just sleep on it” – after which the unconscious mind offers a solution.........”

Keywords: Theory, Emotional, Conscious Mind

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 5-8

Explanation: Whitehead proposed that great success comes when an issue is deliberately avoided, allowing the unconscious mind to offer solutions.

Question 32-34

Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each.

Alfred North Whitehead, for example, gave support for the idea of _____32_____, a term for people deliberately ignoring a problem over a while.

Answer: Incubation

Supporting statement: “.........What Whitehead meant by this is that some of the greatest breakthroughs in creativity occur when a concern is consciously shelved for a while – “don’t think about it, just sleep on it” – after which the unconscious mind offers a solution. This is a process which psychoanalysts call “incubation.”........”

Keywords: Whitehead, Breakthroughs, Incubation, Sleep

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 5-8

Explanation: Alfred North Whitehead supported the idea of “incubation”, where a concern is consciously avoided for some time, allowing the unconscious mind to offer solutions.

Experiments in Amsterdam that required students to consider a tricky situation found them making good decisions while carrying out an unconnected ____33_____.

Answer: Task

Supporting statement: “.........In one experiment, they were allowed to think carefully about a decision; in another experiment, they were distracted by an irrelevant task while making a decision.........”

Keywords: Experiment, Decision, Distracted, Irrelevant

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 4-6

Explanation: In the Amsterdam experiment, students who were distracted by an irrelevant task made better decisions. This supports the idea that unconscious thinking is more effective for complex decisions.

Similarly, an experiment in Virginia that required subjects to make a selection from several _____34_____ found people feeling happier with their decisions if they had made them quickly

Answer: Posters

Supporting statement: “.........Participants were presented with five posters and asked to choose one to take home. A little later, they telephoned and asked how satisfied they were with their choice – a measure of whether they made the right decision from a subjective point of view..........”

Keywords: Posters, Choose, Telephoned, Presented

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 2-5

Explanation: The experiment in Virginia involved choosing from several posters, with those making quick decisions reporting greater satisfaction.

Questions 35-40

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

35. Our unconscious mind helps us more than our conscious mind with complex problems.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “.........The conclusion that has to be drawn from current research suggests the somewhat counter-intuitive idea that the more complex a problem is, the less likely it becomes that conscious thought could contribute much..........”

Keywords: Conscious, Complex, Problem, Research

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 1-3

Explanation: Research shows that unconscious thought is better at dealing with complex issues because conscious thought is not good at dealing with lots of information.

36. Resting before going to sleep can result in improved solutions to issues.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The above passage discusses the benefits of sleeping or daydreaming for unconscious problem-solving, but does not mention relaxing before sleep to improve solutions.

37. Problems are more likely to be solved after dreamless sleep.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “.........REM awakenings led to a 32 percent advantage in the number of puzzles solved compared with non-REM awakenings..........”

Keywords: Awakenings, Puzzles, Advantage, Solved

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 9-10

Explanation: The passage shows that REM sleep (associated with dreaming) enhances problem-solving abilities, while dreamless sleep does not have the same effect.

38. Matthew Walker's team assessed their subjects using a memory test.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “.........In a recent experiment, psychiatrist Matthew Walker and colleagues from the Laboratory of Neurophysiology at Harvard Medical School woke half of their experimental subjects immediately after REM sleep, and the other half just after sleep with no dreams, and then asked them to solve crossword puzzles...........”

Keywords: Puzzles, Sleep, Dreams, Experimental

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 5-9

Explanation: Matthew Walker's team did not evaluate their subjects using memory tests, but instead asked them to solve crossword puzzles.

39. Daydreams are more helpful to the unconscious than dreams, which occur during sleep.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: This passage does not directly compare the effectiveness of daydreaming to dreams in solving concerns. It only states that daydreams are useful for solutions, while dreams are also associated with creativity.

40. People often create their own barriers to problem-solving.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “.........This is the fear of what others will say or think about our ideas, keeping you imprisoned within the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable..........”

Keywords: Fear, Ideas, Imprisoned, Boundaries

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 16-17

Explanation: This statement is supported by Daniel Goleman's idea about self-censorship, which is a barrier that people create to limit their thinking and creativity.

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