ABSTRACT
‘Motivation’ as a technical term has been introduced in the social sciences to refer to the psychological foundation of any human behaviour or thought, subsuming all the factors that shape what we do or think. Within the social sciences, motivation has specific relevance for educators, because an area where the impact of motivation – or the lack of it – is particularly salient is student learning. In fact, according to Danziger, it was the expansion and rationalisation of educational systems in Europe and the US at the beginning of the twentieth century that gave a large push to interest in motivational matters. Instead, in the life sciences, and in the understanding of human behaviour, the core interest is in discovering the bases of the negentropic, coherent, and integrated efforts of individuals as they pursue specific goals and outcomes.
