A review on the research into the effects of Motivational processes on Cognitive processes.

1. Cognition Vs Motivation
By Mostafa Radmard
Allameh Tabatabayi University
Supervisor: Prof. Saeed Setayeshi

2. What's the relation between
Motivation and Cognitive science?

3. What's the relation between
Motivation and Cognitive science?
 “There actually is not much in cognitive psychology on
motivation -- cog psych seems somewhat against the idea of
motivated influences for some reason.”
 “Cognitive Science often does not address motivation,
because cognition and representation are assumed to be
relatively independent of action”
 Models of motivation and cognition often have little intrinsic
relationship with each other.

4. A new research area in Cognitive Science
 Research has only begun to explore the implications of motivation on
information processing. This link between motivation and cognition is an
important area of future research.
 Cognition and motivation do not constitute distinct subsystems of psychological
processes. Instead, they are aspects of one underlying ontology of interactive
systems.
 we focus on motivation, which we take to be another under-represented area in
the field. motivational states influence cognitive processing in humans.

5. Goal of this Presentation
This Presentation reviews some recent research
on the interface between motivation and
cognition and draws out the implications of this
work for computational cognitive science.

6. Motivation Effect on cognitive
models of action
 People’s lack of conscious access to key aspects of their
current motivational state has important implications for
cognitive models of action.
 While people clearly have representations of desired
end-states they would like to achieve, many aspects of
the motivational system are not consciously accessible

7. Motivation Effect on cognitive
elements
the processes that construct mental
representations are deeply influenced by an
individual’s motivational state.

8. Motivational effect on mixture of
implicit and explicit processes
different motivational conditions can affect the
relative use of implicit and explicit processes in
learning(Arthur B. Markman, W. Todd Maddox, Darrell A. Worthy
and Grant C. Baldwin, 2007).

9. Motivational effect on reasoning
and decision making
 cultural differences in reasoning may be attributed to
motivational factors that differ across cultures(Briley & Wyer,
2002; Hong & Chiu, 2001; Kim & Markman, 2006).
 changes in motivational states can alter the choices
people make and the processes they use to reach
decisions(Higgins et al.,2003; Loewenstein, 1996).

10. Goals activate sub goals and
means
Changes in accessibility influence
cognitive performance.

11. Types of Goals
 Goals with positive end states are called approach
goals, while goals with negative end states are called
avoidance goals.

12. Types of Goals

13. Different goals result in different
Cognition
 Approach and avoidance goals are not only distinct
conceptually, but also they likely involve quite different
neural structures in humans and other animals (Fanselow
1995, Pickering and Gray 2001). The approach and avoidance
systems are separate, because different kinds of actions
are appropriate for approaching desired states and
avoiding undesired states.

14. Promotion Vs prevention focus
 There is a state of readiness for approach called a
promotion focus, and a state of readiness for avoidance
called a prevention focus. Individuals with a promotion
focus are sensitive to potential gains in the environment.
In contrast, individuals with a prevention focus are
sensitive to potential losses in the environment.

15. The goal leads to the focus
 situations may induce a regulatory focus. In particular,
when people are pursuing a particular approach goal,
they often have an active promotion focus. Similarly,
when people are pursuing an avoidance goal, they
often have an active prevention focus.

16. Focus Point affect level of cognitive
process
 Positive characteristics of a product are easier to
process for people with a promotion focus than for
people with a prevention focus, while the reverse is true
for people with a prevention focus.

17. Regulatory Fit
 When one’s Focus matches the reward structure of the
task
 Regulatory Fit affects Mental representation and
cognitive processes.

18. Regulatory Fit
 Regulatory Fit between the situational focus and the
reward structure leads to greater cognitive performance
in some tasks.
 Regulatory fit promotes explicit processing. Participants
with a regulatory fit are more likely to use rule-based
processes than are participants with a regulatory
mismatch.

19. Regulatory Fit
 Unlike adults, nine-year-olds perform better in the
promotion condition than in the prevention condition
regardless of task reward structure.
 There is also evidence that children process gains and
losses in the same way and that the tendencies toward
risk-seeking or risk-aversion do not develop until
adulthood

20. 2 main effects of motivation system
on computational models of mind
 Activation of a goal causes activation of related
concepts. So we know what information would
computational systems process.
 Approach or Avoidance focus affects the goals’
priorities and cognitive processes to reach the goals

21. Motivation’s effects on Cognition
1. The processes that construct mental representations are
deeply influenced by an individual’s motivational state.
2. Different motivational conditions can affect the relative
use of implicit and explicit processes in learning.
3. Cultural differences in reasoning may be attributed to
motivational factors that differ across cultures.
4. Changes in motivational states can alter the choices
people make and the processes they use to reach
decisions.

22. Motivation’s effects on Cognition
5. Goals activate sub goals and means in mind. Changes in
accessibility of the issues influence cognitive performance.
6. Approach or Avoidance focus affects the goals’ priorities
and cognitive processes to reach the goals
7. Positive characteristics of a product are easier to process for
people with a promotion focus than for people with a
prevention focus, while the reverse is true for people with a
prevention focus.
8. Regulatory Fit between the situational focus and the reward
structure in adults, leads to greater cognitive performance in
some tasks.
9. Regulatory fit probably promotes explicit processing.

23. How would robots act by themselves?
 motivational processes are crucial for understanding
cognitive processes. Without motivation, people will not
act at all (Carver & Scheier, 1998).
 behavior changes radically under different motivational
circumstances.

24. Thanks for your attention