The Role Motivation of Motivation in Curiosity and Creativity - Essay Example

THE ROLE OF MOTIVATION IN CURIOSITY AND CREATIVITY Curiosity is a factor that influences individual motivation. Curiosity arouses people's motivation without involving other people, such as when something in the physical environment attracts one's attention or when an optimum level of discrepancy exists between a present knowledge or skills and what the learner can obtain when he engages in some forms of activity in order to enhance it. Sensory curiosity and cognitive curiosity are two kinds of curiosity that can stimulate intrinsic motivation. Sensory curiosity occurs through physical factors; such as change of lighting, sound, or changes in tone of voice that attract the attention of learners. Cognitive curiosity, on the other hand, is evoked when an individual believes that a stimulus may be useful in modifying certain existing cognitive structures (McLelland, 1985). In the classroom, motivation plays a significant role for learning in which in order for a student to attain its maximum, he must be an active participant in the learning process. He should focus his attention on the learning tasks and perceive it as a meaningful whole. He should be able to see the significance, meanings, implications, and applications that will make a given experience understandable leading to his reinterpretation of his behavior when they are not attained. All these can be possibly undertaken if the individual possesses a strong level of motivation. Again, curiosity plays the role of a buffer object to motivation. In the teaching-learning process, the learner needs to be motivated in order to undertake all academic tasks successfully. The most effective learning takes place when there is a maximum level of mental activity, which is attained through strong motivation; hence, motivation is basic to learning. Motivation is said to be a process in which the individual's attention and interest are aroused and directed toward definite goals (Gawel 2006), to the extent that his basic and acquired needs are involved. An individual is born with certain basic needs that seek expression and the extent of which he seeks these needs is conditioned by environmental influences and experiences. These experientially modified needs become the motivators of the individual, alongside stimuli that capture his curiosity and interests. Man possesses a built-in mechanism that pushes him to move forward, accomplish a certain task, and achieve a goal. By doing so, he intrinsically feels a certain degree of sense of achievement and a self-validation that erases self-doubts. Curiosity is the starting point of this, trailing the individual towards the path of motivation, which in turn, leads him to the attainment of his goals. Maslow's hierarchy of needs gives a comprehensive scrutiny of how a felt need motivates an individual to accomplish it and satisfy the next levels thereafter. His theory clearly shows that the felt need is the element that makes the individual become motivated in acting upon certain tasks. The learning environment should always foster a felt need, commonly through creativity and curiosity, that the learners would in turn be motivated to satisfy it. Organizing school activities that enhance students' participation, tap their talents, and have corresponding rewards (medals, ribbons, certificates, trophies) often result to a maximum exertion of efforts from students, calling on to express their creativity on these matters. Likewise, giving "stars" to learners to signify an excellent or a good work done enables other students to emulate the behavior. Maslow posits that if at some future time, a deficiency is detected by an individual; the individual shall act upon it in order to remove it (Steers, 1983). This is undertaken through curiosity, which at first was able to detect the deficiency. Students who feel a cognitive need will find group discussion a satisfying experience, but are first captured by their curiosity to find out what a particular group in the cafeteria is doing. Creativity is another factor that allows for motivation to take place in an individual. It is one that makes an individual think of innovation about his job, career, academic tasks, and anything related to this. Problem finding is said to be the hallmark of creativity in which all scientists and inventors have been involved. The unique property of scientific discovery is not problem solving but problem finding. This problem finding allows a person to use his analytical and creative skills (Albert, 1992). Over the years, many psychologists have posited the importance of posing the right question as the hallmark of discovery, rather than reaching the right solution. Posing the right question is hence, a product of creativity, to which a person engages himself in his initial search for conflicts and wonders of the world. This same creativity motivates him toward reaching a goal and herald himself as successful. Motivation in creativity and innovation is said to be more important factors than personality traits, since motivation is likely possessing high intelligence (Maltby, et al., 2007). A person possessing good intelligence but lacks motivation in applying his knowledge to real life is not better than a highly motivated person with an average intelligence is. What makes motivation different is that an individual can improve and apply a certain concept. However, curiosity first leads him towards motivation, acting as a trajectory impetus that gives a starting point to motivation. Curiosity and creativity can do so much to motivate a person. If an individual were in the midst of a conflict zone, or in a rural poverty, he would certainly not worry about fulfilling his aesthetic needs but instead about being hit by a bullet or not getting enough food to eat. The reason why a huge number of people are not interested in values that improves their potential is that they do not have their needs properly taken care of (Gorman, 2004). Hence, if a person is deprived of his basic physical needs, if he is living under threatening circumstances, if he is isolated from others, or if he has no confidence in his abilities, he may continue to survive, but it will not be as fulfilling a life as it could be. Being motivated to realize his potentials is the first step towards change; but first, he must be drawn towards curiosity and creativity leading to motivation. Achievement of goals allows an individual to have faith in himself. However, this is done by a fair sense of motivation that pushes him to achieve. References Czikszentmihayli, M. C. (1992) "Motivation and Creativity." In Albert, R. S. (ed.) Genius and eminence. New York: Pergamon Press Inc. Gawel, Joseph E. 2006. Theory of Motivation and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, 210 O'Boyle Hall, the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC Gorman, P. (2004) Motivation and emotion. Routledge. Maltby, J., Day L., and Macaskill, A. (2007) Personality, individual differences, and intelligence. Prentice Hall. McLelland, David Clarence, 1985. Human motivation. Scott, Foresman. Steers, R. M. (1983) Motivation and work behavior. McGraw-Hill. Read More