Curiosity, intrinsic motivation and the pleasure of knowledge.

Grigorescu, Dragoș

Human behavior is a research topic that unites the explanatory efforts of psychology, ethology, but also pedagogy. One of the basic ideas common to all these areas is motivation. The purpose of this paper is to show that the idea of curiosity is a fundamental concept of intrinsic motivation. The analysis begins from the biology of curiosity offered by ethology and reaches the most representative and current theory of intrinsic motivation (self-determination theory SDT). Whether we are talking about satisfying an innate need for exploration or computational models of intrinsic motivation, curiosity is the red thread that leads us to a curiosity-based pedagogy. If we want more intrinsically motivated students to turn knowledge into an ingredient of well-being, then curiosity-based learning may be the best way.

INTRINSIC motivation; SELF-determination theory; HUMAN behavior; MOTIVATION (Psychology); CURIOSITY

Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology, 2020, Vol 10, Issue 1, p16

2247-6377

Academic Journal