-
ELife Jun 2023Hunger is a motivational drive that promotes feeding, and it can be generated by the physiological need to consume nutrients as well as the hedonic properties of food....
Hunger is a motivational drive that promotes feeding, and it can be generated by the physiological need to consume nutrients as well as the hedonic properties of food. Brain circuits and mechanisms that regulate feeding have been described, but which of these contribute to the generation of motive forces that drive feeding is unclear. Here, we describe our first efforts at behaviorally and neuronally distinguishing hedonic from homeostatic hunger states in and propose that this system can be used as a model to dissect the molecular mechanisms that underlie feeding motivation. We visually identify and quantify behaviors exhibited by hungry flies and find that increased feeding duration is a behavioral signature of hedonic feeding motivation. Using a genetically encoded marker of neuronal activity, we find that the mushroom body (MB) lobes are activated by hedonic food environments, and we use optogenetic inhibition to implicate a dopaminergic neuron cluster (protocerebral anterior medial [PAM]) to α'/β' MB circuit in hedonic feeding motivation. The identification of discrete hunger states in flies and the development of behavioral assays to measure them offers a framework to begin dissecting the molecular and circuit mechanisms that generate motivational states in the brain.
Topics: Animals; Hunger; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Motivation; Dopaminergic Neurons; Feeding Behavior
PubMed: 37326496
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.84537 -
Journal of Sport and Health Science Jan 2023The purpose of motivating students is to enhance their learning achievement. The expectancy-value theory (EVT) has demonstrated its efficacy in motivating students in... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
The purpose of motivating students is to enhance their learning achievement. The expectancy-value theory (EVT) has demonstrated its efficacy in motivating students in classrooms and in gymnasia. Understanding student motivation in physical education is needed. This meta-analysis review aimed to reveal the determinants and functions of EVT by evaluating the evidence in physical education research.
METHODS
We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify and meta-analyze the current research literature published from January 2010 to December 2020 by generating and analyzing the effect sizes from the studies.
RESULTS
A total of 31 studies were included. The results show that social support, motivation of teachers and peers, and positive class climate can predict student EVT motivation. EVT motivation predicts student learning behaviors, situational interests, fitness performance, health behavior function, out-of-school physical activity, and physical skill development.
CONCLUSION
EVT motivation could facilitate learning behaviors and situational interest development in the gymnasium. It might lead to fitness enhancement, health behavior change, out-of-school physical activity participation, and physical skill development. Fostering a learning environment with a mastery-centered and/or student autonomy approach where students perceived success and the task values can enhance and maximize student EVT motivation and learning achievement.
Topics: Humans; Physical Education and Training; Motivation; Learning; Exercise; Achievement
PubMed: 35051641
DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.01.003 -
Nature Human Behaviour Jun 2019Research investigating collective decision-making has focused primarily on the improvement of accuracy in collective decisions and less on the motives that drive... (Review)
Review
Research investigating collective decision-making has focused primarily on the improvement of accuracy in collective decisions and less on the motives that drive individuals to make these decisions. We argue that a strong but neglected motive for making collective decisions is minimizing the material and psychological burden of an individual's responsibility. Making difficult decisions with others shields individuals from the consequences of negative outcomes by reducing regret, punishment and stress. Considering shared responsibility as a another key motivation to join groups helps understand behaviours with societal implications such as political voting, committing norm violations, predicting natural disasters and making health-related decisions.
Topics: Cooperative Behavior; Decision Making; Group Processes; Humans; Motivation
PubMed: 31011162
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0596-4 -
Neuron Nov 2015Curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, but its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remain poorly understood. It is nonetheless a motivator... (Review)
Review
Curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, but its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remain poorly understood. It is nonetheless a motivator for learning, influential in decision-making, and crucial for healthy development. One factor limiting our understanding of it is the lack of a widely agreed upon delineation of what is and is not curiosity. Another factor is the dearth of standardized laboratory tasks that manipulate curiosity in the lab. Despite these barriers, recent years have seen a major growth of interest in both the neuroscience and psychology of curiosity. In this Perspective, we advocate for the importance of the field, provide a selective overview of its current state, and describe tasks that are used to study curiosity and information-seeking. We propose that, rather than worry about defining curiosity, it is more helpful to consider the motivations for information-seeking behavior and to study it in its ethological context.
Topics: Animals; Cognitive Neuroscience; Decision Making; Exploratory Behavior; Humans; Learning; Motivation
PubMed: 26539887
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.010 -
BMC Psychology Oct 2023A unified model of human motivation has been recently introduced that integrates all prior "mini-theories" of motivation into a single, symmetrical model based on first...
BACKGROUND
A unified model of human motivation has been recently introduced that integrates all prior "mini-theories" of motivation into a single, symmetrical model based on first principles: four life domains crossed by three levels of attainment, resulting in 12 discrete motivations. Evidence from a series of studies using a novel image-based method is used to test structural hypotheses derived from a unified model of human motivation.
METHOD
The studies employ large samples (810n to 986n) of working adults who conducted a time-constrained image-based exercise to measure the relative presence or absence of different emotional needs.
RESULTS
These studies provide support for the theoretical model, suggesting that there is substantial heuristic and practical value in a structured framework of motivating needs.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings suggest that our theoretical model reflects deep interrelationships between discrete types of human motivation, and by linking specific measures to a comprehensive model of human motivation, researchers can have confidence that they have adequately measured the motivation construct.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Motivation
PubMed: 37798750
DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01346-5 -
Acta Psychologica Feb 2023Self-motivated and directed learning is integral to knowledge base expansion for learners of all ages. Both motivational and cognitive processes drive self-motivated and... (Review)
Review
Self-motivated and directed learning is integral to knowledge base expansion for learners of all ages. Both motivational and cognitive processes drive self-motivated and directed lifelong learning, yet how these different processes operate together from childhood through adulthood is largely unknown. In this review, we discuss the role of personal motivators, such as beliefs in self-efficacy and personality traits in self-motivated and directed learning across the lifespan. We then consider the role of cognitive processes that contribute to knowledge base expansion in learners of all ages, specifically executive functions. We focus on working memory, inhibitory control, and task switching as potential determinants of lifelong learning. Finally, we integrate the two literatures, to discuss ways in which personal motivators may influence deployment of executive functions under self-motivated and directed conditions as a learner advances along a developmental trajectory. We also suggest ways to move the study of self-motivated and directed learning beyond observation and self-report measures thus affording experimental control. We aim to provide a more comprehensive understanding and novel insight to the mechanisms and processes of self-motivated and directed learning across the lifespan.
Topics: Humans; Child; Longevity; Learning; Motivation; Executive Function
PubMed: 36549216
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103816 -
PloS One 2022This agent-based model contributes to a theory of corporate culture in which company performance and employees' behaviour result from the interaction between financial...
This agent-based model contributes to a theory of corporate culture in which company performance and employees' behaviour result from the interaction between financial incentives, motivational factors and endogenous social norms. Employees' personal values are the main drivers of behaviour. They shape agents' decisions about how much of their working time to devote to individual tasks, cooperative, and shirking activities. The model incorporates two aspects of the management style, analysed both in isolation and combination: (i) monitoring efforts affecting intrinsic motivation, i.e. the company is either trusting or controlling, and (ii) remuneration schemes affecting extrinsic motivation, i.e. individual or group rewards. The simulations show that financial incentives can (i) lead to inefficient levels of cooperation, and (ii) reinforce value-driven behaviours, amplified by emergent social norms. The company achieves the highest output with a flat wage and a trusting management. Employees that value self-direction highly are pivotal, since they are strongly (de-)motivated by the management style.
Topics: Humans; Motivation; Organizational Culture; Remuneration; Reward; Social Norms; Work Performance
PubMed: 35085279
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262430 -
Psychological Research Nov 2022Hundred years ago, Kurt Lewin published a series of articles in which he vehemently argued against the idea that associations between stimuli and responses motivate... (Review)
Review
Hundred years ago, Kurt Lewin published a series of articles in which he vehemently argued against the idea that associations between stimuli and responses motivate behavior. This article reviews his empirical work and theory and the cogency of Lewin's conclusion according to modern standards. We conclude that Lewin's criticism of the contiguity principle of associationism is still valid, and is now supported by a broad range of theories on learning, motivation, and action control. Implications for modern dual-system theory and modern theories on motivated action and (instructed) task sets are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Male; Motivation; Behavior
PubMed: 34951661
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01631-1 -
Current Topics in Behavioral... 2016Deficits in reward and motivation are common symptoms characterizing several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Such deficits may include anhedonia, defined as loss... (Review)
Review
Deficits in reward and motivation are common symptoms characterizing several psychiatric and neurological disorders. Such deficits may include anhedonia, defined as loss of pleasure, as well as impairments in anticipatory pleasure, reward valuation, motivation/effort, and reward learning. This chapter describes recent advances in the development of behavioral tasks used to assess different aspects of reward processing in both humans and non-human animals. While earlier tasks were generally developed independently with limited cross-species correspondence, a newer generation of translational tasks has emerged that are theoretically and procedurally analogous across species and allow parallel testing, data analyses, and interpretation between human and rodent behaviors. Such enhanced conformity between cross-species tasks will facilitate investigation of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying discrete reward and motivated behaviors and is expected to improve our understanding and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by reward and motivation deficits.
Topics: Anhedonia; Animals; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Learning; Mental Disorders; Motivation; Reward; Translational Research, Biomedical
PubMed: 26873017
DOI: 10.1007/7854_2015_5004 -
The Gerontologist Nov 2022Study recruitment and retention of older adults in research studies is a major challenge. Enhancing understanding of individual differences in motivations to...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Study recruitment and retention of older adults in research studies is a major challenge. Enhancing understanding of individual differences in motivations to participate, and predictors of motivators, can serve the dual aims of facilitating the recruitment and retention of older adults, benefiting study validity, economy, and power.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Older adults (N = 472) past and potential participants were surveyed about motivations to participate in research, demographic, and individual difference measures (e.g., health status, cognitive difficulties). Latent class and clustering analyses explored motivation typologies, followed by regression models predicting individual motivators and typologies.
RESULTS
Older adults endorsed a diversity of research motivations, some of which could be predicted by individual difference measures (e.g., older participants were more motivated by the desire to learn new technology, participants without a college education were more motivated by financial compensation, and participants with greater self-reported cognitive problems were more likely to participate to gain cognitive benefit). Clustering analysis revealed 4 motivation typologies: brain health advocates, research helpers, fun seekers, and multiple motivation enthusiasts. Cognitive difficulties, age, employment status, and previous participation predicted membership in these categories.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Results provide an understanding of different participant motivations beyond differences between younger and older adults and begin to identify different classes of older adults motivated to participate in research studies. Results can provide guidance for targeted recruitment and retention strategies based on individual differences in stated or predicted motivations.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Motivation; Geroscience; Surveys and Questionnaires; Learning; Self Report
PubMed: 35267020
DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnac035