Mind, Brain, and Education

Brain studies have revealed that 2 neurological systems, one for “wanting” and one for “liking,” are responsible for many instances of motivated behavior. If wanting and liking are fundamental elements of motivation, then we should also expect to see them represented in educational models of motivation for learning. However, it has not yet been established whether this is the case. Situated instances of motivation, such as when a student feels motivated to immediately engage in learning, can potentially be informed by education constructs such as curiosity, situational interest, intrinsic motivation, achievement emotions, and flow. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the two elements, wanting and liking, can be identified in each of these constructs. The analysis revealed that the education constructs could be inferred to include wanting and liking. It is proposed that a focus on these fundamental elements might aid our understanding of motivation in educational settings.