Motivation and Cognitive Control

Recent research in cognition and neuroscience has revealed exciting findings of motivational influences on brain activity and behavior within a number of domains, including episodic memory, working memory, attention, and executive control. In parallel, work conducted from a socioemotional or economic perspective has suggested that motivation-related constructs are integral to understanding behavioral goals, including the nature of individual differences, unconscious influences, and self-concepts. This volume is the first to synthesize those research perspectives and provides essential reading on the cutting-edge of this new and highly exciting research interface.

Individuals do not always perform to their full capability on cognitive tasks. When this occurs, the usual explanation is that the individual was not properly motivated. But this begs the important question: How and why does motivation interact with and influence cognitive processing and the control processes that regulate it? What are the underlying mechanisms that govern such interactions? Motivation has been an important component of psychology and neuroscience throughout the history of the field, but has recently been rejuvenated by rapidly accelerating research interest in the nature of motivation-cognition interactions, particularly as they impact control processes and goal-directed behavior.

This volume provides an up-to-date snapshot of the state of research in this exciting, expanding area. The contributors to the volume are internationally-renowned researchers that lead the field in conducting groundbreaking studies. Moreover, they represent a variety of research perspectives and traditions: cognitive psychology and neuroscience, animal learning, social, affective, and personality psychology, and development, lifespan, and aging studies. This book summarizes our current state of understanding of the relationship between motivation and cognitive control, and serves as an essential reference for both students and researchers.