ABSTRACT
Motivation theories can be classified broadly into two different perspectives: content and process theories. Content theories deal with 'what' motivates people and are concerned with individual needs and goals. Process theories deal with the 'process' of motivation and are concerned with 'how' motivation occurs. This chapter presents a brief overview of motivational theories in order to understand background and relationship to the learning process. Although reinforcement theory was developed primarily to explain animal behaviour, it was later used to explain human behaviour as well. Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs is often cited when considering human motivation. In 1969, Clayton Alderfer simplified Maslow's theory by categorising the hierarchy of needs into three merged categories: existence, relatedness and growth. According to self-determination theory, there are three basic human psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness and competence. Generally, research suggests that the domain specificity of motivation tends to increase with age. Motivation is related to achievement and IQ.
