Abstract:

Motivation is the core of all behaviors. Motivation can be classified as the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The processing of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation involves the reward, value, and control systems that would interact with the hippocampal memory system to facilitate memory performance. During adolescence, the brain develops rapidly, making it a critical period for memory development. Meanwhile, the subsystems of motivation develop unbalanced during adolescence (i.e., the reward system is sensible and the control system is immature), making it a special period for the motivation development. However, so far, the investigation of how extrinsic and intrinsic motivation impact teenage memory is on the start stage. There is a lack of systematic exploration and comparison of the behavioral rules and neural mechanisms of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation’s impact on memory during adolescence. It remains unclear whether the rules and mechanisms of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation’s impact on memory are common or specific and how the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation interacts with each other to affect memory during adolescence.

As the monetary reward is easy to operate and quantify, previous research always used monetary reward to manipulate extrinsic motivation. In addition, intrinsic motivation is a hotspot in recent neuroscience research. Autonomy is the core concept of intrinsic motivation, which is often induced by self-determined choice. The current research will focus on monetary reward (extrinsic motivation) and self-determined choice (intrinsic motivation). We will integrate psychological and neuroscience methods and conduct a series of experiments to systematically reveal the impact of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on memory during adolescence on multiple levels (cognitive level, neural activity level and neural network level). Specifically, the current research will directly compare the mechanisms via which the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation affects memory and we will also examine how the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation interacts with each other to affect memory, so as to reveal the unique behavioral rules and neural mechanisms via which the two types of motivation (the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation) affect memory during adolescence. This research will greatly enrich the theory and improve the level of the field of motivation and memory. It has important theoretical significance for us to understand the nature of motivation, the underlying mechanisms of how motivation affects memory and the brain development during a very critical period in our life, the adolescence. It also has important practical significance for promoting adolescents’ motivation and learning.

Key words: extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, memory, adolescents, neural mechanisms