Cognitive Motivation: From Curiosity to Identity, Purpose and Meaning

by David Beswick

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781316630693
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/19/2019
Pages:	395
Product dimensions:	9.06(w) x 5.91(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

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.

Editorial Reviews

‘This is the definitive book on the history of scientific research on curiosity. Dr Beswick offers a gift to readers, synthesizing research across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to offer new insights on human motivation.' Todd B. Kashdan, George Mason University, Virginia and author of The Upside of your Dark Side and Curious?

‘Human beings not only think but want to think, and in particular ways. Beswick's book on cognitive motivation breaks new ground in exploring the fascinating interplay between psychology's two most fundamental concepts, namely cognition and motivation. This is an impressive, thoughtful, erudite treatment of the topic, including dazzling integration of what psychology's best thinkers have had to say about it.' Roy F. Baumeister, author of The Cultural Animal: Human Nature, Meaning, and Social Life

'David Beswick shows how the concept of an incomplete gestalt is relevant to different forms of cognitive motivation and how it relates to basic processes of memory, consciousness and emotion, as well as to goals, identity, meaning and purpose. This is a major work, scholarly and well-argued, providing a background to the many fascinating ideas that are presented. Highly recommended.' Norman Feather, Flinders University, Adelaide

From the Publisher