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Part of the book series: Perspectives in Social Psychology ((PSPS))

Abstract

Curiosity is a basic propensity in human functioning. The desire to explore, discover, understand, and know is intrinsic to people’s nature and is a potentially central motivator of the educational process. Yet all too frequently, educators, parents, and policymakers have ignored intrinsic motivation and viewed education as an extrinsic process, one that must be pushed and prodded from without. Recent reviews of motivation in education (e.g., Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Harter & Connell, 1984; Ryan et al., 1985; Thomas, 1980) have increasingly recognized the importance of intrinsic motivation and have emphasized the role of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational processes in the promotion of children’s learning and achievement. With the recognition of the importance of intrinsic motivation has come a new perspective on extrinsic motivation that is more congruent with the active, growth-oriented nature of the child.

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© 1985 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M. (1985). Education. In: Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. Perspectives in Social Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2273-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2271-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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