Meaning
CognitiveDriveistheneedtounderstandandunderstandthesurroundingthings,theneedtomasterknowledge,andtheneedtoexplainandsolveproblemssystematicallyInlearningactivities,thecognitivedrivepointstothelearningtaskitself(inordertoobtainknowledge),whichisanimportantandstablemotivation.Sincethesatisfactionofneeds(theacquisitionofknowledge)isprovidedbythelearningitself,itisalsocalledinternalmotivation.
Importance
OsubelhasanegativeattitudetowardsthemotivationaleffectsofHull’sdrivereductionandSkinner’sfeedback.Inhisview,theroleandrelativeimportanceofmotivationdependonthetypeoflearningandthelevelofdevelopmentofthestudents.Forexample,comparedwithmechanicallearning,motivationisnotsoimportantformeaninglearning.Inmeaningfullearning,studentscanlearnnewknowledgemeaningfullywithlesseffort;whilemechanicallearningrequiresmemorizingallkindsofunrelatedknowledgeandlearningthroughrepeatedpractice,sostudentsarerequiredtohavestronglearningMotivation,otherwiseitislikelytobeabandonedhalfway.Inaddition,theimportanceofmotivationfactorsinlearninggraduallydecreaseswiththeageofstudents.Withtheincreaseofstudents'cognitiveability,attentionspan,andabilitytoconcentrate,learningisrelativelyeasy.Moreover,thevariablesofcognitivestructurearebecomingmoreandmoreimportantinlearning.
Osubel’sviews
Osubel’smainconcernisachievementmotivation,whichisthetendencyofstudentstotrytogetgoodgrades.WhatisdifferentisthatinAusubel'sview,achievementmotivationismainlycomposedofthreedriveforces,namely,cognitivedrive,self-improvementdrive,andaccessorydrive.CognitiveDriveisthemostimportantandstablepartofthethreecomponentsofachievementmotivation.Mostofitexistsinthelearningtaskitself.Theso-calledcognitivedrivereferstothetendencyofstudentstodesiretorecognize,understandandmasterknowledge,aswellastostateandsolveproblems.Inshort,itisaneedforknowledge.Thisisthemostimportantmotivationinmeaninglearning.Itoriginatesfromthestudent'stendencytobecurious,aswellasthepsychologicaltendencytoexplore,manipulate,understandandcopewiththeenvironment.Whatneedstobepointedouthereisthatthesepsychologicaltendenciesareallpotentialmotivationalfactorsatfirst,andtheyhaveneithercontentnordirectioninthemselves.Thesepotentialmotivationsbecomeactualmotivationalfactors.Ontheonehand,theyaretheresultofsuccessfullearning,andstudentsanticipatethatfuturelearningmaygetsatisfactoryresults;ontheotherhand,theyaretheresultoftheinfluenceofrelevantpeopleinthefamilyandsociety.Forexample,intheUnitedStates,socialcultureisorientedtowardutilitarianism,competition,andachievement.Asstudentsgrowolder,thesesourcesofmotivationhaveagreaterimpactonlearning.Itcanbeseenthatthevitalityofcognitivedriveasaninternalmotivationisweakenedbyexternalmotivationssuchascompetitionforscores,concernaboutreputation,orfearoffailure.Therefore,Osubelproposedthatifthecognitivedriveofstudentsistobeformedandbecomethemotivationforstudentstostudyinschool,theeducationaltheorymustbediscarded:adaptingthecurriculumtothecurrentconcernsofeveryoneandtheproblemsofstudentsadaptingtolife..Inotherwords,wemustattachimportancetothevalueofcognitionandunderstanding,andusethisasthegoal,insteadoftakingtangiblebenefitsastheprimarygoal.Osubelbelievesthattheinfluenceofmotivationalvariablesoncognitivelearningandmemoryisdifferentfromtheinfluenceofcognitivevariables.Motivationvariablesgenerallydonotdirectlyinvolvetheprocessofcognitivelearning.Theyinfluencethecognitiveprocessthroughtheintermediaryofenhancingeffort,attentionandlearningpreparation.Theresultsoftheexperimentshowthatstudentswithhigherrequirementsforachievementhavemoreperseveranceandmorefruitfullearningwhenstudying,andtheyaremoreeagertogetsolutionsintheprocessofproblemsolvingthanstudentswithlowerrequirementsforachievement.Theperseveranceofstudentstolearnisrelatedtotheintensityofcognitivedrive.Researchonattentionhasshownthatonlycertainmethodsofinstructingstudentstopayattentiontoteachingcontent,nomatterhowthestudentspayattention,cannotimproveacademicperformance.Therefore,oneofthebestwaystoimprovestudents'cognitivedriveistomakethelearningsituationattractive.Asfortherelationshipbetweenwhethertoprepareforlearningandacademicperformance,ithaslongbeenconfirmedbyalargenumberofstudies.Similarly,theinfluenceofmotivationalvariablesonmemoryisgenerallybasedonselectivelyinhibitingrecognitionandreappearanceasanintermediarytoaffectinformationretention.Therefore,motivationalvariablesonlyaffecttheextractionofspecificinformation.Forexample,memoryinformationthattriggersguiltisoftensuppressed.Butthiskindofsituationdoesnotoftenhappeningeneralclassroomlearning.Itcanbeseenthatmotivationisthecauseofcognitivelearning,butmoreistheresultofcognitivelearning.Theteacher'sdutyistomakestudentsinterestedincognitionitself.Thebestwayistomakeaproperdistancebetweenthenewlearningcontentandthestudents'cognitivestructure,whichisthemosteffectiveforcausingcognitivedrive.Butifthestudentsdonothavethemotivationtolearn,theydonotneedtowaituntilthestudentshavethemotivationtolearn.Aslongastheteachercanmakethestudentslearnmeaningfullyandsatisfythemintheirstudies,theywillshowthemotivationtolearn.