Cognitive Motivation From Curiosity to Identity, Purpose and Meaning

Motivation and cognition were treated as separate concepts throughout most of twentieth-century psychology. However, in recent years researchers have begun viewing the two as inextricably intertwined: not only does what we want affect how we think, but how we think affects what we want. In this innovative study, Beswick presents a new general theory of cognitive motivation, synthesizing decades of existing research in social, cognitive and personality psychology. New basic concepts are applied to a wide range of purposive behaviour. Part I of the volume reviews different forms of cognitive motivation, such as curiosity, cognitive dissonance, achievement motivation, and the search for purpose and meaning, while Part II examines the basic processes that underlie it, such as working memory, attention and emotion. The central concept is the incomplete gestalt, in which motivation is generated by a universal striving to integrate information and make sense at all levels of cognitive organization.

Introduction: the incomplete gestalt; Part I. Forms of Cognitive Motivation: 1. Towards a general theory of cognitive motivation; 2. Curiosity; 3. Intrinsic motivation; 4. Cognitive dissonance; 5. Achievement motivation; 6. Agency, efficacy and attribution; Part II. Basic Processes and Applications: 7. Working memory, consciousness, and attention; 8. The function of emotion in cognitive motivation; 9. Goals; 10. Intentions; 11. Identity; 12. Purpose and meaning.

David Beswick is Professor Emeritus and Principal Fellow at the Centre for Positive Psychology, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. He is a Life Member of the Australian Psychological Society, a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators and a minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. He was formerly director of the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, before which he researched and taught in psychology and educational research at the Australian National University. He held visiting appointments at Berkeley, London and Uppsala University, Sweden, and has published more than one hundred articles and monographs.