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Motivation, Learning, and Instruction
Motiation: History of the Concept of goal choice and volitional issues of goal implementation is reflected in recent research on goals that distinguishes between goal setting and goal implementation. See also: Action Planning, Psychology of; Attributional Processes: Psychological; Behaviorism; Behaviorism, History of; Cognitive Psychology: History; Free Will and Action; Mental Representations, Psychology of; Motivation and Actions, Psychology of; Motivation, Learning, and Instruction; Motivation, Neural Basis of; Personality Structure; Personality Theories; Self-regulation in Adulthood; Self-regulation in Childhood
Higgins E T, Kruglanski A W (eds.) Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. Guilford Press, New York, pp. 329–60 Murray H A 1938 Explorations in Personality. Oxford University Press, New York Oettingen G 2000 Expectancy effects on behavior depend on self-regulatory thought. Social Cognition 18: 101–29 Pyszczynski T A, Greenberg J, Solomon S 1997 Why do we need what we need?: A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation. Psychological Inquiry 8: 1–20 Spence K W 1956 Behaior Theory and Conditioning. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT Tesser A 1988 Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior. In: Berkowitz L (ed.) Adances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press, New York, Vol. 21, pp. 181–22 Weiner B 1992 Human Motiation. Sage, Newbury Park, CA
P. M. Gollwitzer and G. Oettingen
Bibliography Ach N 1935 Analyse des Willens. Urban und Schwarzenberg, Berlin Atkinson J W 1957 Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Reiew 64: 359–72 Bandura A 1997 Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W. H. Freeman, New York Baumeister R F, Leary M R 1995 The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin 117: 497–529 Cofer C N, Appley M H 1964 Motiation: Theory and Research. Wiley, New York Dweck C S 1999 Self-theories. Their Role in Motiation, Personality, and Deelopment. Psychology Press, Philadelphia Emmons R A 1996 Striving and feeling: Personal goals and subjective well-being. In: Gollwitzer P M, Bargh J A (eds.) The Psychology of Action: Linking Cognition and Motiation to Behaior. Guilford Press, New York Gollwitzer P M 1986 Action phases and mind-sets. In: Higgins E T, Sorrentino E M (eds.) Handbook of Motiation and Cognition: Foundations of Social Behaior. Guilford Press, New York, Vol. 2 Gollwitzer P M 1999 Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist 54: 493–503 Heckhausen H 1991 Motiation and Action. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Higgins E T 1997 Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist 52: 1280–1300 Hull C L 1943 Principles of Behaior. Appleton-Century, New York James W 1890 The Principles of Psychology. Holt, New York Kuhl J, Beckmann J 1994 Volition and Personality: Action Versus State Orientation. Hogrefe and Huber, Seattle, WA Lewin K 1926 Vorsatz, Wille und Bedu$ rfnis. Psychologische Forschung 7: 330–85 Maslow A H 1954 Motiation and Personality. Harper & Row, New York McClelland D C (ed.) 1955 Studies in Motiation. AppletonCentury, New York McClelland D C 1985 Human Motiation. Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL McDougall 1932 The Energies of Men: A Study of the Fundamentals of Dynamic Psychology. Methuen, London Mischel W, Cantor N, Feldman S 1996 Principles of selfregulation: The nature of will power and self-control. In:
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Motivation, Learning, and Instruction In popular language, motivation is equated with goaldirected behavior and is, as such, easily understood. However, educational researchers who wanted to include this seemingly clear construct into their models of learning and instruction soon discovered that it is a blanket term which refers to a variety of interrelated self-perceptions and affects, including outcome expectations, self-efficacy, goal orientation, goal setting, perception of control, interest, self-concept of ability, goal intentions, goal striving, persistence, and effort expenditure. Each of these facets of the motivation construct has been intensively researched within its own conceptual niche, a situation which has resulted in a kaleidoscope of overlapping constructs and complementary measurement instruments. Quite clearly, the presence of too many motivation-related constructs has hindered the integration of the concept within models of learning and instruction. This article begins with a brief historical tour of the motivation theories that are relevant to the study of learning and instruction. Next, some recent developments in motivation research will be discussed. These developments have been instrumental in giving motivation the prominent place in pedagogical practice and instruction models that is long overdue.
1. A Brief History of Motiation An examination of the history of motivation reveals that the significance of the motivation construct was acknowledged in the 1940s and 1950s, when interpretation problems plagued the study of goal achievement. Researchers argued that individuals have access to a
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction large amount of prior knowledge which facilitates the formation of expectancies about various goals. In the late 1950s Atkinson (1958) published his famous ‘expectancy by value’ model in which he described action tendencies as the outcomes of the interactions between goals, expectancies, and motives related to success and failure. The theory of need achievement is, in fact, one of the first comprehensive theories of human motivation. It was expanded and refined several times. Heckhausen (1977) introduced some extrinsic and content-related components into the model, including novelty and task specificity, and illustrated how these components may contribute to students’ action tendencies in a learning context. Another comprehensive theory of motivation, namely the theory of intrinsic motivation, developed in parallel to the theory of need achievement. It is important to note that in both these theoretical frameworks motivation refers to a process whereby goal-directed behavior is instigated and sustained. However, the assumptions made about the reasons why students make conscious and deliberate efforts to attain specific goals are at variance. Indeed, Deci (1975) and DeCharms (1976) defined intrinsic motivation as motivation that is inherent in the activity being pursued and the meaning assigned to it. A striking finding reported by Harter (1981) is that intrinsic motivation, as an important energizer for learning, is being lost as children move up in the elementary school system. Deci and Ryan (1985) identified a number of factors in the learning environment that are supportive of intrinsic motivation, and they put forward principles to foster this type of motivation. For quite some time, proponents of the two theoretical traditions have competed for dominance in the field of education, but they were not successful in convincing educational psychologists that their constructs should be incorporated into theories of learning and instruction. Fortunately, in the 1980s, the two motivation theories were integrated into a new theoretical framework, displaying a theoretical richness that has enlightened researchers investigating cognitive skills and school achievement. Findings stemming from this new research tradition, called goal orientation, substantially contributed to our knowledge of student motivation in the life classroom. It became clear that the quality of the learning process depends to a large extent on the students’ goal orientation, more specifically on the type of criteria students use to determine the success of a particular learning activity (Dweck 1986, Nicholls 1984). Students who perceive school tasks as opportunities to learn predominantly use mastery criteria to determine the merit of their work (task orientation); they focus on cues in the learning situation that invite them to build up their competence and confidence and solicit feedback to assess their progress. In contrast, students who rely on performance criteria to determine their successes view
school tasks as opportunities to demonstrate their (in)ability. Several research groups argued that students’ goal orientation is a prominent motivational unit, since it is directly linked to cognitive engagement and strategy use. It was demonstrated that students of different age groups who score high on task orientation select deeper processing strategies than students high on ego orientation (e.g., Meece et al. 1988). These results were applauded by researchers who study the development of ‘higher order’ skills, mainly because they saw for the first time that motivational beliefs directly affect cognitive strategy use. They finally had a motivational unit on a par with cognitive strategy use. However, equivalent positive relationships were demonstrated between cognitive strategy use and other motivational beliefs including interest, intrinsic motivation, selfefficacy, and self-concept of ability. The profusion of motivation constructs which were introduced into the educational literature created complexity, ambiguity, and tension, not least because researchers found it hard to choose the most appropriate motivation constructs to integrate into their models. They also lost their way in the forest of motivation questionnaires. This situation of abundance, linked to the fact that researchers in the field of metacognition had renamed several motivation constructs and grouped them together under the heading of ‘metacognitive experiences,’ turned the field of metacognition and learning strategies into a jungle where motivation researchers and metacognitive specialists compete for dominance.
2. Impact of Motiation on Instruction How do different instructional practices influence student motivation? Although many studies have been designed to answer this question, much more research is necessary to understand how instruction variables interact with student and group characteristics. One of the difficulties in answering the question is that teachers use an enormous repertoire of strategies to create different learning settings. A helpful categorization of learning settings was put forward by Ames and Ames (1984), who made a distinction between competitive, individualized, and cooperative learning settings and reported typical motivational practices which impact on students’ goal orientation. Ames (1992) argued that motivation practices which make social comparisons salient in the classroom, such as using ability groupings, evaluation of individual abilities, and providing public feedback, elicit ego-focused cognitions and affects. There is evidence that teachers can play down ego-focused learning goals by focusing on what students have already mastered rather than on what has gone wrong. The extent to which teachers succeed in creating a mastery-oriented learning setting, where everybody who puts in effort can experience 10113
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction some degree of success, is considered to be an indication of one’s professional expertise (Brophy 1999). Moreover, research on motivation (see e.g., Pintrich and Schunk 1996, Stipek et al. 1998, Wigfield et al. 1998) suggests that students are more motivated when teachers (a) supply interesting tasks, meaning that they present an optimal level of challenge to the learners, (b) put greater emphasis on process and on seeking alternative solutions, (c) encourage and reward effort, (d) put emphasis on social goals, (e) avoid the use of controlling techniques, (f) manage to embed newly learned cognitive and motivation strategies within a variety of tasks and activities so that students can make use of these strategies within a wide range of application contexts. Although these principles are highly recommendable, there is still much to be learned about the motivational practices for students who prefer to work individually and for those who like to work in groups. Emerging findings justify the conclusion that teachers and students have different views on the effectiveness of motivational practices (see Thorkildsen et al. 1994). For example, not all teachers agree that drawing students’ attention away from ability judgments is the way to proceed. There are also large groups of students who still think that teachers should take the responsibility for their learning, meaning that they should provide instructional support and motivate them to keep going. Researchers should further explore the degree to which various learning settings support students’ values and basic psychological needs (needs for competence, autonomy, and social relatedness, cf. Deci and Ryan 1990). 3 Bridging the Gap between Motiation and Strategy Use At this point, it is important to refer to three recent developments in motivation research that have the potential of providing more structure to the study of student motivation and of bridging the gap between research on motivation and the literature on learning and instruction. First, a clear distinction was made between two intricately related aspects of goal-directed behavior, namely motivation and volition. The second development refers to new measurement instruments which emanated from process-oriented models of student motivation and allowed researchers to assess student motivation in situ. The third development embodies a new framework for studying the interrelations between motivation and metacognition, called self-regulated learning. 3.1 Making a Distinction between Motiation and Volition Several authors (e.g., Kuhl and Goschke 1994, Snow et al. 1996) argued that it is necessary to separate 10114
‘motivation’ from its twin construct ‘volition.’ Snow et al. reviewed the literature on motivation and volition and concluded that, consonant with the bulk of theory and research, the motivation construct can best be conceptualized in terms of decision making and choice with respect to individual goals. It refers to a ‘commitment pathway’ which results when students contemplate or deliberate over options to enactment and implementation. They argued that volition begins when the goal has been set. Kuhl and Goschke (1994) explained that in the postdecisional phase, students mainly have to inhibit counter-intentional impulses and protect their intention from competing action tendencies. Following this line of argument, the study of motivation for learning is restricted and expanded at the same time: it is confined to the predecisional phase and expanded to include all the ‘commitment pathways’ that are, or are not, being established in relation to events, tasks, and activities that are part of a student’s life. 3.2 Measuring Motiation, as Commitment Pathways, in Relation to Learning Traditionally, motivation was measured as a personality characteristic, meaning that it was equated with relatively stable beliefs that are important reasons for action. This approach to motivation led to the development of trait questionnaires that measure students’ inclination to act as an enduring characteristic, thus categorizing them into either one of two opposite categories, such as ‘intrinsically motivated vs. extrinsically motivated students,’ ‘success-oriented students vs. failure-oriented students,’ ‘ego-oriented students vs. task-oriented students.’ Several authors cautioned against generalizations based on ‘dispositional’ motivational characteristics and warned about the use of favorable and unfavorable traits for learning. For example, Pintrich and Garcia (1991) provided evidence that it is incorrect to suggest that extrinsic motivation is an unfavorable trait for all students. These authors observed that the association between intrinsic motivation and the use of a deep level processing style was only evident in those students who scored low on extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation also showed a positive association with deep level processing, but this relationship was only evident in those students who were low on intrinsic motivation. It is important to realize that the trait approach to motivation describes general commitment pathways based on enduring motivational characteristics, thus ignoring the fact that students may have a tendency to react in a specific way to particular domains of knowledge (e.g., mathematics, science, language learning), based on their theory of mind and self. In the terminology of Cantor et al. (1986) students form subcategories of the self, related to various domains. Higgins (1987) referred to similar motivational units,
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction contrasting ‘the actual self’ to the ‘ideal self’ and the ‘ought self.’ These different aspects of the self are viewed as self-directive standards or acquired selfguides. A subset of students’ theory of self, namely their motivational beliefs (e.g., self-efficacy beliefs, values, expectancies, wishes), are activated when they are confronted with tasks, learning activities, or specific courses and interact with these concrete aspects of reality (e.g., with mathematics as a subject-matter domain), thus giving meaning and value to all learning activities that are part of that domain (Boekaerts 1996). It is clear that students’ motivational beliefs about the various subject-matter domains taught in school and about specific leisure activities may be rather weak at the beginning of primary school. However, these beliefs grow steadily once students realize that different academic subjects and leisure activities have their own inherent structure, rules, and standards. Once they are established, domain-specific motivational beliefs give rise to domain-specific motivation or domain-specific commitment pathways. Although it is feasible that a positive inclination towards homework will be translated into domainspecific motivation to do homework for mathematics, there is no guarantee that students will form a domainspecific commitment pathway. This will depend on the unique way in which they have mentally represented that subject-matter domain, particularly in terms of motivational beliefs. In a similar vein, it is not certain that students who have favorable domain-specific motivational beliefs will always display that behavior in a given situation. Indeed, domain-specific motivational beliefs activated from memory interact with current learning opportunities giving rise to ‘situationspecific motivational beliefs’ or ‘appraisals.’ In other words, students who are invited to invest effort in a specific mathematics problem-solving activity may or may not translate their domain-specific needs, expectations, and wishes into concrete behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions generated in the situation are called goal intentions. They reflect the individual’s decision to use his or her personal resources to reach the goal. In learning situations, these goal intentions are referred to as ‘learning intentions’ because they denote the students’ intentions to engage in a specific learning activity, given local conditions (contextspecific commitment pathways). The point being made is that one can only study student motivation as an actual state of the learner when students are invited to observe the unique properties of a current situation; only then will their unique cognitions and feelings surface and reveal context-sensitive or insensitive behavior. The experience sampling method makes it possible to record such ‘student by situation transactions’ while students are actually participating in unfolding learning episodes. Boekaerts (1999), Krapp (1999), Vermeer et al. (2000),
and Volet (1997) studied the impact of situational factors on student motivation in concrete learning situations. Preliminary evidence suggest intraindividual and gender differences in appraisals and goal intention. In conclusion, regularities in student behavior, defined in terms of stable motivational characteristics should not be confused with (a) students’ tendency to react favorably or unfavorably in relation to a domain of study, and (b) with their sensitivity, given local conditions. The distinction made between inclination, tendency, and sensitivity allows researchers to describe the time frame of different ‘commitment pathways.’ Both domain-specific motivation and situationspecific motivation can be viewed as explicit behavioral intentions. However, only motivation measured at the subordinate level (in the situation), is a deliberate choice to initiate a specific task or activity, because it is based on a student’s appraisal of (a) the learning situation, given the local context, and (b) rivaling tendencies.
3.3 Studying Metacognition and Motiation as Interwoen Aspects of Self-Regulated Learning It has already been emphasized that researchers who investigate the use of learning strategies have largely ignored motivational constructs in their theories and models, while researchers working within the motivation tradition have always assumed that motivation for learning is associated with higher school performance, without bothering to examine whether highly motivated students have access to better learning strategies. Fortunately, these two lines of research have merged. However, researchers still concentrate too much on academic goals and devote little attention to the social and well-being goals that children and adolescents also pursue in a school setting. Yet, as Wentzel (1996) argued convincingly, the social worlds of youngsters, and thus their social goals, play a dominant and influential role in their lives at school. Wentzel drew attention to social motivation, documenting that there are strong links between academic and social components of motivation (e.g., wanting to help others, to share information with classmates, to take responsibility for the learning of others). Since the early 1990s, researchers have become fully aware of the multiple goals that students pursue in a classroom context and also of the fact that these goals may be in harmony or disharmony. The unique ways in which students steer and guide their behavior to meet these multiple goals are viewed as indicators of their self-regulatory skills. Self-regulated learning offers a new perspective on the study of motivation for learning, since it encourages researchers to go beyond the mere description of activity in the one control system (cf. Boekaerts and Niemivirta 1999). When researchers are prompted to study cognitive and 10115
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction metacognitive processes in close connection with motivation, mutual influences are the focus of attention, and emerging properties of the system as a whole will be noted. This new approach will hopefully tell us how different forms of control are realized in a classroom context, how feedback processes operate in different control systems, and how students coordinate the interacting processes.
4. Conclusion The study of motivation has always been the study of inferred causes for goal-directed behavior, but several shifts in focus have been noted: a shift from needs to cognitions, from extrinsic to intrinsic values, from performance-oriented criteria for success to activityoriented criteria. Recent developments in theory and instrument construction announce a new era for research on motivation for learning. The construct of self-regulated learning inspires researchers to explore the factors that facilitate adaptive motivational patterns that are instrumental to learning in school and beyond (lifelong learning). In focusing on selfregulated learning, motivation researchers have also ventured beyond the traditional motivation agenda, investigating motivation control as an important aim in itself. They advocate that the ability to elicit favorable motivational beliefs in learning situations, but also at choice points in one’s career and life, is an important resource. See also: Academic Achievement Motivation, Development of; Intrinsic Motivation, Psychology of; Motivation and Actions, Psychology of; Motivation: History of the Concept; School Achievement: Cognitive and Motivational Determinants; Schooling: Impact on Cognitive and Motivational Development; Self-concepts: Educational Aspects; Self-efficacy: Educational Aspects
Bibliography Ames C 1992 Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology 84: 261–71 Ames C, Ames R 1984 Research on Motiation in Education: Vol. 1. Student Motiation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA Atkinson J W 1958 Towards experimental analysis of human motivation in terms of motives, expectancies, and incentives. In: Atkinson J W (ed.) Moties in Fantasy, Action and Society: A Method of Assessment and Study. Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ, pp. 839–62 Boekaerts M 1996 Personality and the psychology of learning. European Journal of Personality 10: 377–404 Boekaerts M 1999 Motivated learning: studying student situation transactional units. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14(1): 41–55
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Boekaerts M, Niemivirta M 1999 Self-regulated learning: Finding a balance between learning goals and ego-protective goals. In: Boekaerts M, Pintrich P R, Zeidner M (eds.) Handbook of Self-regulation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp. 417–46 Brophy J 1999 Teaching. Educational Practices Series-1. International Academy of Education, Brussels, Belgium Cantor N, Markus H, Niedenthal P, Nurius P 1986 On motivation and the self-concept. In: Sorrentino R M, Higgins E T (eds.) Handbook of Motiation and Cognition. Guilford Press, New York, pp. 96–121 DeCharms R 1976 Enhancing Motiation in the Classroom. Irvington, Halstead-Wiley, New York Deci E L 1975 Intrinsic Motiation. Plenum, New York Deci E L, Ryan R 1985 Intrinsic Motiation and Self-determination in Human Behaior. Plenum, New York Deci E L, Ryan R 1990 A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In: Dienstbier R A (ed.) Nebraska Symposium on Motiation: Vol. 38. Perspecties on Motiation. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE pp. 237–338 Dweck C S 1986 Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist 41: 1040–8 Harter S 1981 A model of mastery motivation in children: Individual differences and developmental change. In: Pick A (ed.) Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ Heckhausen H 1977 Achievement motivation and its constructs: A cognitive model. Motiation and Emotion 1: 283–329 Higgins E T 1987 Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Reiew 94: 319–40 Krapp A 1999 Interest motivation and learning – An educational psychological perspective. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14: 23–40 Kuhl J, Goschke T 1994 A theory of action control: Mental subsystems, modes of control, and volitional conflict resolution strategies. In: Kuhl J, Beckmann J (eds.) Volition and Personality: Action Versus State Orientation. Hogrefe & Huber, Seattle, WA, pp. 127–54 Meece J L, Blumenfeld P C, Hoyle R H 1988 Students’ goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology 80: 514–23 Nicholls J G 1984 Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Reiew 91: 328–46 Pintrich P R, Garcia T 1991 Student goal orientation and selfregulation in the college classroom. In: Maehr M L, Pintrich P R (eds.) Adances in Motiation and Achieement: Goals and Self-regulatory Processes. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 371–402 Pintrich P R, Schunk D 1996 Motiation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications. Merrill, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ Snow R E, Corno L, Jackson D 1996 Individual differences in affective and conative functions. In: Berliner D C, Calfee R C (eds.) The Handbook of Educational Psychology. PrenticeHall, London, pp. 243–310 Stipek D, Givvin K D, Salomon J M, MacGyvers V L 1998 Can a teacher intervention improve classroom practices and student motivation in mathematics? The Journal of Experimental Education. 66: 319–37 Thorkildsen T A, Nolen S B, Fournier J 1994 What is fair? Children’s critiques of practices that influence motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology 86: 475–86 Vermeer H J, Boekaerts M, Seegers G 2000 Motivational and gender differences: Sixth-grade students’ mathematical
Motiation, Neural Basis of problem-solving behavior. Journal of Educational Psychology 92: 308–15 Volet S E 1997 Cognitive and affective variables in academic learning: The significance of direction and effort in students’ goals. Learning and Instruction 7: 235–54 Wentzel K R 1996 Social and academic motivation in middle school: Concurrent and long-term relations to academic effort. Journal of Early Adolescence 16: 390–406 Wigfield A, Eccles J S, Rodriguez D 1998 The development of children’s motivation in school contexts. Reiew of Research in Education 23: 73–118
M. Boekaerts Copyright # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Motivation, Neural Basis of This article will describe the organization of the neural systems and their interactions that are critical for the expression of motivated behaviors. Presented first is an influential model of how motivated behaviors are organized temporally that will provide the background for discussing the structure of underlying neural circuits. It will emphasize that any model or circuit analysis must ultimately account for the complexity of all behavioral components, and must explain how temporal sequences (ethograms) of behavioral episodes are organized and controlled. The neural systems thought to be critical for generating motivated behaviors are then discussed. At this point however, it is worth considering that, although the forebrain plays a critical role, there is probably no single neural system that puts the ‘motivation’ into ‘behavior.’
important considerations. Finally, as the consummatory phase continues, a variety of interosensory feedback signals are generated that increase the probability that it will be terminated (commonly called satiety), presumably through the action of inhibitory networks. However, termination may also arise from separate exterosensory signals (e.g., the presence of a predator) that can override the ongoing behavior at any time, so allowing the animal to switch immediately to one that is more appropriate (McFarland and Sibly 1975).
2. Neural Systems At the simplest level, four broad-ranging neural systems are concerned with generating motivated behaviors: those involved with the transduction and processing of sensory signals; those that control arousal state; those that process the types of information that neurally represents sensory objects; and those involved with motor control (Fig. 1). Using this scheme, four principal sets of inputs activate
1. Temporal Organization of Motiated Behaiors Motivated behavior is initiated by the neural interaction of interosensory information, exterosensory information, and arousal state. The outcome of this integration determines the value of the ‘drie’ associated with a particular behavior, and is used to select the most appropriate behavioral action, which is then expressed as a procurement (or appetitie) phase where the goal object is actively sought out (Toates 1986). Procurement behaviors include foraging, are individualized for the particular situation, can be quite complex, and are under cognitive control. When the goal object has been located, a consummatory phase allows the animal to interact directly with the goal object with more stereotypic rhythmic movements— licking, chewing, copulating, etc. Reward\aversion functions, together with learning and memory processes are also critical during the procurement and consummatory phases; a previously rewarded or aversive experience of a particular goal object, remembering where it is located, and how to get there are
1
2 3
4
Figure 1 A schematic representation of the neural systems involved with generating motivated behaviors. Points 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent various inputs to motor control networks that activate behaviors. Inputs 1 and 2 are associated with complex anticipatory behaviors, 3 with homeostatically-generated behaviors; all three of which are motivated. Input 4 can only generate reflex (i.e., nonmotivated) actions (abbreviations: Stimul., stimulatory; Inhib., inhibitory; Disinhib., disinhibitory)
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International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
ISBN: 0-08-043076-7
Higgins E T, Kruglanski A W (eds.) Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. Guilford Press, New York, pp. 329–60 Murray H A 1938 Explorations in Personality. Oxford University Press, New York Oettingen G 2000 Expectancy effects on behavior depend on self-regulatory thought. Social Cognition 18: 101–29 Pyszczynski T A, Greenberg J, Solomon S 1997 Why do we need what we need?: A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation. Psychological Inquiry 8: 1–20 Spence K W 1956 Behaior Theory and Conditioning. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT Tesser A 1988 Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior. In: Berkowitz L (ed.) Adances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press, New York, Vol. 21, pp. 181–22 Weiner B 1992 Human Motiation. Sage, Newbury Park, CA
P. M. Gollwitzer and G. Oettingen
Bibliography Ach N 1935 Analyse des Willens. Urban und Schwarzenberg, Berlin Atkinson J W 1957 Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Reiew 64: 359–72 Bandura A 1997 Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W. H. Freeman, New York Baumeister R F, Leary M R 1995 The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin 117: 497–529 Cofer C N, Appley M H 1964 Motiation: Theory and Research. Wiley, New York Dweck C S 1999 Self-theories. Their Role in Motiation, Personality, and Deelopment. Psychology Press, Philadelphia Emmons R A 1996 Striving and feeling: Personal goals and subjective well-being. In: Gollwitzer P M, Bargh J A (eds.) The Psychology of Action: Linking Cognition and Motiation to Behaior. Guilford Press, New York Gollwitzer P M 1986 Action phases and mind-sets. In: Higgins E T, Sorrentino E M (eds.) Handbook of Motiation and Cognition: Foundations of Social Behaior. Guilford Press, New York, Vol. 2 Gollwitzer P M 1999 Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist 54: 493–503 Heckhausen H 1991 Motiation and Action. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Higgins E T 1997 Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist 52: 1280–1300 Hull C L 1943 Principles of Behaior. Appleton-Century, New York James W 1890 The Principles of Psychology. Holt, New York Kuhl J, Beckmann J 1994 Volition and Personality: Action Versus State Orientation. Hogrefe and Huber, Seattle, WA Lewin K 1926 Vorsatz, Wille und Bedu$ rfnis. Psychologische Forschung 7: 330–85 Maslow A H 1954 Motiation and Personality. Harper & Row, New York McClelland D C (ed.) 1955 Studies in Motiation. AppletonCentury, New York McClelland D C 1985 Human Motiation. Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL McDougall 1932 The Energies of Men: A Study of the Fundamentals of Dynamic Psychology. Methuen, London Mischel W, Cantor N, Feldman S 1996 Principles of selfregulation: The nature of will power and self-control. In:
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Motivation, Learning, and Instruction In popular language, motivation is equated with goaldirected behavior and is, as such, easily understood. However, educational researchers who wanted to include this seemingly clear construct into their models of learning and instruction soon discovered that it is a blanket term which refers to a variety of interrelated self-perceptions and affects, including outcome expectations, self-efficacy, goal orientation, goal setting, perception of control, interest, self-concept of ability, goal intentions, goal striving, persistence, and effort expenditure. Each of these facets of the motivation construct has been intensively researched within its own conceptual niche, a situation which has resulted in a kaleidoscope of overlapping constructs and complementary measurement instruments. Quite clearly, the presence of too many motivation-related constructs has hindered the integration of the concept within models of learning and instruction. This article begins with a brief historical tour of the motivation theories that are relevant to the study of learning and instruction. Next, some recent developments in motivation research will be discussed. These developments have been instrumental in giving motivation the prominent place in pedagogical practice and instruction models that is long overdue.
1. A Brief History of Motiation An examination of the history of motivation reveals that the significance of the motivation construct was acknowledged in the 1940s and 1950s, when interpretation problems plagued the study of goal achievement. Researchers argued that individuals have access to a
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction large amount of prior knowledge which facilitates the formation of expectancies about various goals. In the late 1950s Atkinson (1958) published his famous ‘expectancy by value’ model in which he described action tendencies as the outcomes of the interactions between goals, expectancies, and motives related to success and failure. The theory of need achievement is, in fact, one of the first comprehensive theories of human motivation. It was expanded and refined several times. Heckhausen (1977) introduced some extrinsic and content-related components into the model, including novelty and task specificity, and illustrated how these components may contribute to students’ action tendencies in a learning context. Another comprehensive theory of motivation, namely the theory of intrinsic motivation, developed in parallel to the theory of need achievement. It is important to note that in both these theoretical frameworks motivation refers to a process whereby goal-directed behavior is instigated and sustained. However, the assumptions made about the reasons why students make conscious and deliberate efforts to attain specific goals are at variance. Indeed, Deci (1975) and DeCharms (1976) defined intrinsic motivation as motivation that is inherent in the activity being pursued and the meaning assigned to it. A striking finding reported by Harter (1981) is that intrinsic motivation, as an important energizer for learning, is being lost as children move up in the elementary school system. Deci and Ryan (1985) identified a number of factors in the learning environment that are supportive of intrinsic motivation, and they put forward principles to foster this type of motivation. For quite some time, proponents of the two theoretical traditions have competed for dominance in the field of education, but they were not successful in convincing educational psychologists that their constructs should be incorporated into theories of learning and instruction. Fortunately, in the 1980s, the two motivation theories were integrated into a new theoretical framework, displaying a theoretical richness that has enlightened researchers investigating cognitive skills and school achievement. Findings stemming from this new research tradition, called goal orientation, substantially contributed to our knowledge of student motivation in the life classroom. It became clear that the quality of the learning process depends to a large extent on the students’ goal orientation, more specifically on the type of criteria students use to determine the success of a particular learning activity (Dweck 1986, Nicholls 1984). Students who perceive school tasks as opportunities to learn predominantly use mastery criteria to determine the merit of their work (task orientation); they focus on cues in the learning situation that invite them to build up their competence and confidence and solicit feedback to assess their progress. In contrast, students who rely on performance criteria to determine their successes view
school tasks as opportunities to demonstrate their (in)ability. Several research groups argued that students’ goal orientation is a prominent motivational unit, since it is directly linked to cognitive engagement and strategy use. It was demonstrated that students of different age groups who score high on task orientation select deeper processing strategies than students high on ego orientation (e.g., Meece et al. 1988). These results were applauded by researchers who study the development of ‘higher order’ skills, mainly because they saw for the first time that motivational beliefs directly affect cognitive strategy use. They finally had a motivational unit on a par with cognitive strategy use. However, equivalent positive relationships were demonstrated between cognitive strategy use and other motivational beliefs including interest, intrinsic motivation, selfefficacy, and self-concept of ability. The profusion of motivation constructs which were introduced into the educational literature created complexity, ambiguity, and tension, not least because researchers found it hard to choose the most appropriate motivation constructs to integrate into their models. They also lost their way in the forest of motivation questionnaires. This situation of abundance, linked to the fact that researchers in the field of metacognition had renamed several motivation constructs and grouped them together under the heading of ‘metacognitive experiences,’ turned the field of metacognition and learning strategies into a jungle where motivation researchers and metacognitive specialists compete for dominance.
2. Impact of Motiation on Instruction How do different instructional practices influence student motivation? Although many studies have been designed to answer this question, much more research is necessary to understand how instruction variables interact with student and group characteristics. One of the difficulties in answering the question is that teachers use an enormous repertoire of strategies to create different learning settings. A helpful categorization of learning settings was put forward by Ames and Ames (1984), who made a distinction between competitive, individualized, and cooperative learning settings and reported typical motivational practices which impact on students’ goal orientation. Ames (1992) argued that motivation practices which make social comparisons salient in the classroom, such as using ability groupings, evaluation of individual abilities, and providing public feedback, elicit ego-focused cognitions and affects. There is evidence that teachers can play down ego-focused learning goals by focusing on what students have already mastered rather than on what has gone wrong. The extent to which teachers succeed in creating a mastery-oriented learning setting, where everybody who puts in effort can experience 10113
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction some degree of success, is considered to be an indication of one’s professional expertise (Brophy 1999). Moreover, research on motivation (see e.g., Pintrich and Schunk 1996, Stipek et al. 1998, Wigfield et al. 1998) suggests that students are more motivated when teachers (a) supply interesting tasks, meaning that they present an optimal level of challenge to the learners, (b) put greater emphasis on process and on seeking alternative solutions, (c) encourage and reward effort, (d) put emphasis on social goals, (e) avoid the use of controlling techniques, (f) manage to embed newly learned cognitive and motivation strategies within a variety of tasks and activities so that students can make use of these strategies within a wide range of application contexts. Although these principles are highly recommendable, there is still much to be learned about the motivational practices for students who prefer to work individually and for those who like to work in groups. Emerging findings justify the conclusion that teachers and students have different views on the effectiveness of motivational practices (see Thorkildsen et al. 1994). For example, not all teachers agree that drawing students’ attention away from ability judgments is the way to proceed. There are also large groups of students who still think that teachers should take the responsibility for their learning, meaning that they should provide instructional support and motivate them to keep going. Researchers should further explore the degree to which various learning settings support students’ values and basic psychological needs (needs for competence, autonomy, and social relatedness, cf. Deci and Ryan 1990). 3 Bridging the Gap between Motiation and Strategy Use At this point, it is important to refer to three recent developments in motivation research that have the potential of providing more structure to the study of student motivation and of bridging the gap between research on motivation and the literature on learning and instruction. First, a clear distinction was made between two intricately related aspects of goal-directed behavior, namely motivation and volition. The second development refers to new measurement instruments which emanated from process-oriented models of student motivation and allowed researchers to assess student motivation in situ. The third development embodies a new framework for studying the interrelations between motivation and metacognition, called self-regulated learning. 3.1 Making a Distinction between Motiation and Volition Several authors (e.g., Kuhl and Goschke 1994, Snow et al. 1996) argued that it is necessary to separate 10114
‘motivation’ from its twin construct ‘volition.’ Snow et al. reviewed the literature on motivation and volition and concluded that, consonant with the bulk of theory and research, the motivation construct can best be conceptualized in terms of decision making and choice with respect to individual goals. It refers to a ‘commitment pathway’ which results when students contemplate or deliberate over options to enactment and implementation. They argued that volition begins when the goal has been set. Kuhl and Goschke (1994) explained that in the postdecisional phase, students mainly have to inhibit counter-intentional impulses and protect their intention from competing action tendencies. Following this line of argument, the study of motivation for learning is restricted and expanded at the same time: it is confined to the predecisional phase and expanded to include all the ‘commitment pathways’ that are, or are not, being established in relation to events, tasks, and activities that are part of a student’s life. 3.2 Measuring Motiation, as Commitment Pathways, in Relation to Learning Traditionally, motivation was measured as a personality characteristic, meaning that it was equated with relatively stable beliefs that are important reasons for action. This approach to motivation led to the development of trait questionnaires that measure students’ inclination to act as an enduring characteristic, thus categorizing them into either one of two opposite categories, such as ‘intrinsically motivated vs. extrinsically motivated students,’ ‘success-oriented students vs. failure-oriented students,’ ‘ego-oriented students vs. task-oriented students.’ Several authors cautioned against generalizations based on ‘dispositional’ motivational characteristics and warned about the use of favorable and unfavorable traits for learning. For example, Pintrich and Garcia (1991) provided evidence that it is incorrect to suggest that extrinsic motivation is an unfavorable trait for all students. These authors observed that the association between intrinsic motivation and the use of a deep level processing style was only evident in those students who scored low on extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation also showed a positive association with deep level processing, but this relationship was only evident in those students who were low on intrinsic motivation. It is important to realize that the trait approach to motivation describes general commitment pathways based on enduring motivational characteristics, thus ignoring the fact that students may have a tendency to react in a specific way to particular domains of knowledge (e.g., mathematics, science, language learning), based on their theory of mind and self. In the terminology of Cantor et al. (1986) students form subcategories of the self, related to various domains. Higgins (1987) referred to similar motivational units,
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction contrasting ‘the actual self’ to the ‘ideal self’ and the ‘ought self.’ These different aspects of the self are viewed as self-directive standards or acquired selfguides. A subset of students’ theory of self, namely their motivational beliefs (e.g., self-efficacy beliefs, values, expectancies, wishes), are activated when they are confronted with tasks, learning activities, or specific courses and interact with these concrete aspects of reality (e.g., with mathematics as a subject-matter domain), thus giving meaning and value to all learning activities that are part of that domain (Boekaerts 1996). It is clear that students’ motivational beliefs about the various subject-matter domains taught in school and about specific leisure activities may be rather weak at the beginning of primary school. However, these beliefs grow steadily once students realize that different academic subjects and leisure activities have their own inherent structure, rules, and standards. Once they are established, domain-specific motivational beliefs give rise to domain-specific motivation or domain-specific commitment pathways. Although it is feasible that a positive inclination towards homework will be translated into domainspecific motivation to do homework for mathematics, there is no guarantee that students will form a domainspecific commitment pathway. This will depend on the unique way in which they have mentally represented that subject-matter domain, particularly in terms of motivational beliefs. In a similar vein, it is not certain that students who have favorable domain-specific motivational beliefs will always display that behavior in a given situation. Indeed, domain-specific motivational beliefs activated from memory interact with current learning opportunities giving rise to ‘situationspecific motivational beliefs’ or ‘appraisals.’ In other words, students who are invited to invest effort in a specific mathematics problem-solving activity may or may not translate their domain-specific needs, expectations, and wishes into concrete behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions generated in the situation are called goal intentions. They reflect the individual’s decision to use his or her personal resources to reach the goal. In learning situations, these goal intentions are referred to as ‘learning intentions’ because they denote the students’ intentions to engage in a specific learning activity, given local conditions (contextspecific commitment pathways). The point being made is that one can only study student motivation as an actual state of the learner when students are invited to observe the unique properties of a current situation; only then will their unique cognitions and feelings surface and reveal context-sensitive or insensitive behavior. The experience sampling method makes it possible to record such ‘student by situation transactions’ while students are actually participating in unfolding learning episodes. Boekaerts (1999), Krapp (1999), Vermeer et al. (2000),
and Volet (1997) studied the impact of situational factors on student motivation in concrete learning situations. Preliminary evidence suggest intraindividual and gender differences in appraisals and goal intention. In conclusion, regularities in student behavior, defined in terms of stable motivational characteristics should not be confused with (a) students’ tendency to react favorably or unfavorably in relation to a domain of study, and (b) with their sensitivity, given local conditions. The distinction made between inclination, tendency, and sensitivity allows researchers to describe the time frame of different ‘commitment pathways.’ Both domain-specific motivation and situationspecific motivation can be viewed as explicit behavioral intentions. However, only motivation measured at the subordinate level (in the situation), is a deliberate choice to initiate a specific task or activity, because it is based on a student’s appraisal of (a) the learning situation, given the local context, and (b) rivaling tendencies.
3.3 Studying Metacognition and Motiation as Interwoen Aspects of Self-Regulated Learning It has already been emphasized that researchers who investigate the use of learning strategies have largely ignored motivational constructs in their theories and models, while researchers working within the motivation tradition have always assumed that motivation for learning is associated with higher school performance, without bothering to examine whether highly motivated students have access to better learning strategies. Fortunately, these two lines of research have merged. However, researchers still concentrate too much on academic goals and devote little attention to the social and well-being goals that children and adolescents also pursue in a school setting. Yet, as Wentzel (1996) argued convincingly, the social worlds of youngsters, and thus their social goals, play a dominant and influential role in their lives at school. Wentzel drew attention to social motivation, documenting that there are strong links between academic and social components of motivation (e.g., wanting to help others, to share information with classmates, to take responsibility for the learning of others). Since the early 1990s, researchers have become fully aware of the multiple goals that students pursue in a classroom context and also of the fact that these goals may be in harmony or disharmony. The unique ways in which students steer and guide their behavior to meet these multiple goals are viewed as indicators of their self-regulatory skills. Self-regulated learning offers a new perspective on the study of motivation for learning, since it encourages researchers to go beyond the mere description of activity in the one control system (cf. Boekaerts and Niemivirta 1999). When researchers are prompted to study cognitive and 10115
Motiation, Learning, and Instruction metacognitive processes in close connection with motivation, mutual influences are the focus of attention, and emerging properties of the system as a whole will be noted. This new approach will hopefully tell us how different forms of control are realized in a classroom context, how feedback processes operate in different control systems, and how students coordinate the interacting processes.
4. Conclusion The study of motivation has always been the study of inferred causes for goal-directed behavior, but several shifts in focus have been noted: a shift from needs to cognitions, from extrinsic to intrinsic values, from performance-oriented criteria for success to activityoriented criteria. Recent developments in theory and instrument construction announce a new era for research on motivation for learning. The construct of self-regulated learning inspires researchers to explore the factors that facilitate adaptive motivational patterns that are instrumental to learning in school and beyond (lifelong learning). In focusing on selfregulated learning, motivation researchers have also ventured beyond the traditional motivation agenda, investigating motivation control as an important aim in itself. They advocate that the ability to elicit favorable motivational beliefs in learning situations, but also at choice points in one’s career and life, is an important resource. See also: Academic Achievement Motivation, Development of; Intrinsic Motivation, Psychology of; Motivation and Actions, Psychology of; Motivation: History of the Concept; School Achievement: Cognitive and Motivational Determinants; Schooling: Impact on Cognitive and Motivational Development; Self-concepts: Educational Aspects; Self-efficacy: Educational Aspects
Bibliography Ames C 1992 Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology 84: 261–71 Ames C, Ames R 1984 Research on Motiation in Education: Vol. 1. Student Motiation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA Atkinson J W 1958 Towards experimental analysis of human motivation in terms of motives, expectancies, and incentives. In: Atkinson J W (ed.) Moties in Fantasy, Action and Society: A Method of Assessment and Study. Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ, pp. 839–62 Boekaerts M 1996 Personality and the psychology of learning. European Journal of Personality 10: 377–404 Boekaerts M 1999 Motivated learning: studying student situation transactional units. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14(1): 41–55
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Boekaerts M, Niemivirta M 1999 Self-regulated learning: Finding a balance between learning goals and ego-protective goals. In: Boekaerts M, Pintrich P R, Zeidner M (eds.) Handbook of Self-regulation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp. 417–46 Brophy J 1999 Teaching. Educational Practices Series-1. International Academy of Education, Brussels, Belgium Cantor N, Markus H, Niedenthal P, Nurius P 1986 On motivation and the self-concept. In: Sorrentino R M, Higgins E T (eds.) Handbook of Motiation and Cognition. Guilford Press, New York, pp. 96–121 DeCharms R 1976 Enhancing Motiation in the Classroom. Irvington, Halstead-Wiley, New York Deci E L 1975 Intrinsic Motiation. Plenum, New York Deci E L, Ryan R 1985 Intrinsic Motiation and Self-determination in Human Behaior. Plenum, New York Deci E L, Ryan R 1990 A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In: Dienstbier R A (ed.) Nebraska Symposium on Motiation: Vol. 38. Perspecties on Motiation. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE pp. 237–338 Dweck C S 1986 Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist 41: 1040–8 Harter S 1981 A model of mastery motivation in children: Individual differences and developmental change. In: Pick A (ed.) Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ Heckhausen H 1977 Achievement motivation and its constructs: A cognitive model. Motiation and Emotion 1: 283–329 Higgins E T 1987 Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Reiew 94: 319–40 Krapp A 1999 Interest motivation and learning – An educational psychological perspective. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14: 23–40 Kuhl J, Goschke T 1994 A theory of action control: Mental subsystems, modes of control, and volitional conflict resolution strategies. In: Kuhl J, Beckmann J (eds.) Volition and Personality: Action Versus State Orientation. Hogrefe & Huber, Seattle, WA, pp. 127–54 Meece J L, Blumenfeld P C, Hoyle R H 1988 Students’ goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology 80: 514–23 Nicholls J G 1984 Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Reiew 91: 328–46 Pintrich P R, Garcia T 1991 Student goal orientation and selfregulation in the college classroom. In: Maehr M L, Pintrich P R (eds.) Adances in Motiation and Achieement: Goals and Self-regulatory Processes. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 371–402 Pintrich P R, Schunk D 1996 Motiation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications. Merrill, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ Snow R E, Corno L, Jackson D 1996 Individual differences in affective and conative functions. In: Berliner D C, Calfee R C (eds.) The Handbook of Educational Psychology. PrenticeHall, London, pp. 243–310 Stipek D, Givvin K D, Salomon J M, MacGyvers V L 1998 Can a teacher intervention improve classroom practices and student motivation in mathematics? The Journal of Experimental Education. 66: 319–37 Thorkildsen T A, Nolen S B, Fournier J 1994 What is fair? Children’s critiques of practices that influence motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology 86: 475–86 Vermeer H J, Boekaerts M, Seegers G 2000 Motivational and gender differences: Sixth-grade students’ mathematical
Motiation, Neural Basis of problem-solving behavior. Journal of Educational Psychology 92: 308–15 Volet S E 1997 Cognitive and affective variables in academic learning: The significance of direction and effort in students’ goals. Learning and Instruction 7: 235–54 Wentzel K R 1996 Social and academic motivation in middle school: Concurrent and long-term relations to academic effort. Journal of Early Adolescence 16: 390–406 Wigfield A, Eccles J S, Rodriguez D 1998 The development of children’s motivation in school contexts. Reiew of Research in Education 23: 73–118
M. Boekaerts Copyright # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Motivation, Neural Basis of This article will describe the organization of the neural systems and their interactions that are critical for the expression of motivated behaviors. Presented first is an influential model of how motivated behaviors are organized temporally that will provide the background for discussing the structure of underlying neural circuits. It will emphasize that any model or circuit analysis must ultimately account for the complexity of all behavioral components, and must explain how temporal sequences (ethograms) of behavioral episodes are organized and controlled. The neural systems thought to be critical for generating motivated behaviors are then discussed. At this point however, it is worth considering that, although the forebrain plays a critical role, there is probably no single neural system that puts the ‘motivation’ into ‘behavior.’
important considerations. Finally, as the consummatory phase continues, a variety of interosensory feedback signals are generated that increase the probability that it will be terminated (commonly called satiety), presumably through the action of inhibitory networks. However, termination may also arise from separate exterosensory signals (e.g., the presence of a predator) that can override the ongoing behavior at any time, so allowing the animal to switch immediately to one that is more appropriate (McFarland and Sibly 1975).
2. Neural Systems At the simplest level, four broad-ranging neural systems are concerned with generating motivated behaviors: those involved with the transduction and processing of sensory signals; those that control arousal state; those that process the types of information that neurally represents sensory objects; and those involved with motor control (Fig. 1). Using this scheme, four principal sets of inputs activate
1. Temporal Organization of Motiated Behaiors Motivated behavior is initiated by the neural interaction of interosensory information, exterosensory information, and arousal state. The outcome of this integration determines the value of the ‘drie’ associated with a particular behavior, and is used to select the most appropriate behavioral action, which is then expressed as a procurement (or appetitie) phase where the goal object is actively sought out (Toates 1986). Procurement behaviors include foraging, are individualized for the particular situation, can be quite complex, and are under cognitive control. When the goal object has been located, a consummatory phase allows the animal to interact directly with the goal object with more stereotypic rhythmic movements— licking, chewing, copulating, etc. Reward\aversion functions, together with learning and memory processes are also critical during the procurement and consummatory phases; a previously rewarded or aversive experience of a particular goal object, remembering where it is located, and how to get there are
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2 3
4
Figure 1 A schematic representation of the neural systems involved with generating motivated behaviors. Points 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent various inputs to motor control networks that activate behaviors. Inputs 1 and 2 are associated with complex anticipatory behaviors, 3 with homeostatically-generated behaviors; all three of which are motivated. Input 4 can only generate reflex (i.e., nonmotivated) actions (abbreviations: Stimul., stimulatory; Inhib., inhibitory; Disinhib., disinhibitory)
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International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
ISBN: 0-08-043076-7