The Psychology of Action Linking Cognition and Motivation to Behavior [Hardcover]

Moving beyond the traditional, and unproductive, rivalry between the fields of motivation and cognition, this book integrates the two domains to shed new light on the control of goal-directed action. Renowned social and motivational psychologists present concise formulations of the latest research programs which are effectively mapping the territory, providing new findings, and suggesting innovative strategies for future research. Ideally structured for classroom use, this book will effectively familiarize readers with important theories in the psychology of action.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in human motivation. In this well-edited volume, top theorists and researchers bring us up to date on their efforts to integrate cognition and motivation through the use of goal concepts and a focus on action. Not only is motivation back but along with it such important topics as intention, willpower, self-regulation, and the dynamics of action. --Lawrence A. Pervin, Ph.D., Rutgers University

The artificial separation of cognition and motivation was an unfortunate by-product of the demise of grand theories in psychology. This book takes a large step toward re-integrating these constructs. It does more, however: it integrates the new with old. Although the scholarship that enlightens these chapters is impressive in its currency, the underlying issues addressed--the role of consciousness in life, the operation of choice and will in action, the basically functional nature of behavior--take us back to our roots in the great age of the classical approaches. --Russell G. Geen, Ph.D., Curators' Professor of Psychology, University of Missouri

The aspiration of the editors implied in the title of this important volume--to find a link between action and cognition--is as admirable as it is risky. For decades, cognition has relied heavily on the computer model of the mind, and like the computer, had no conceptual instruments to allolC±