This multidisciplinary, multimethod pursuit, called Motivation Science, is now an emerging field (Kruglanski, Chemikova & Kopez, 2015). In recent years, researchers have recognized the importance of more unified and cross-disciplinary approach to study motivation (Braver et al., 2014). In other fields such as cognitive psychology, motivation has been normally treated as a nuisance factor that needs to be controlled (see Simon, 1994).
Furthermore, the way motivation is defined and theorized is fundamentally different in cognitive/affective neuroscience (Murayama, in press). For example, I studied a number of motivation theories proposed in educational psychology (as my PhD is in educational psychology) but these theories are not connected with the motivational theories studied in social psychology or organizational psychology. Despite its obvious importance, empirical research on motivation has been segregated in different areas for long years, making it difficult to establish an integrative view on motivation. When you study mathematics, your motivation to study mathematics clearly affects the way you learn it. When you make a decision, your choice is certainly influenced by your motivational state. Motivation is important in almost every aspect of human behavior. He has recently started a large project on the nature of human curiosity and intrinsic rewards, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Prize from the American Psychological Foundation, and the Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award from the Learning & the Brain Foundation. 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, the F.J. Snow Award for Early Contributions from Div. He obtained his PhD at the University of Tokyo as an educational psychologist, and thereafter expanded his expertise and research scope (to include such areas as social psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience and psychometrics) through postdoctoral positions at four different institutions in three different countries (Japan, the United States, Germany). Kou Murayama is an associate professor at the University of Reading, heading the multidisciplinary Motivation Science lab with the aim of achieving an integrative understanding of human motivation.