In my talk, I will argue for the foundational importance of including the approach-avoidance distinction in models of achievement motivation in general, and achievement goals in particular. I will present a conceptual model of achievement goals that partially incorporates the approach-avoidance distinction (the trichotomous achievement goal framework) and another that fully incorporates the approach-avoidance distinction (the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework). I will proceed to discuss the conceptual and empirical benefits of the trichotomous and 2 x 2 frameworks relative to the standard dichotomous framework, and I will present some recent data that illustrates these benefits. Mastery-avoidance goals will receive special attention, as these goals are the most recent addition to the literature and are the least intuitive of all goals considered. Antecedents of achievement goals, particularly avoidance goals, will be discussed.