Conceptual Rethinking Self-Determination Theory: The Project of Constructivist SDT

Self-determination theory (SDT) has developed gradually over the last 45 years to become a major theory of human motivation and personality. Philosophical roots of SDT are grounded in organismic theory, SDT assumes that humans are proactive by nature, oriented toward healthy development and are vulnerable to passivity, psychological fragmentation, and interpersonal disharmony, especially when the social surround is not supportive of their inherent growth tendencies. Such a dynamic gives rise to an organismic-dialectic meta-theory. SDT uses the achievements of many other approaches. In the field of psychology of motivation it represents a very successful development of ideas about the cognitive mediation of motivational tendencies developed by J. Rotter, J.A. Atkinson, H. Heckhausen, M.E.P. Seligman, B. Weiner, etc. In the field of personality psychology, SDT is a new, much more empirically grounded stage in the development of the ideas of humanistic psychology. This paper offers a way to rethink SDT from a constructivist perspective. It seems that this approach will allow us to unify the ways of motivation formation using different styles of activity regulation, will make it possible to differentiate various regulatory styles within the style that is called external in traditional SDT and also will provide an opportunity to re-examine the problem of distinguishing between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. It will eventually expand the explanatory power of the SDT.

An unavoidable convenience: How post-millennials engage with the news that finds them on social and mobile media

The growing reliance on social media via mobile devices is changing how individuals obtain, engage with, and learn from news content. Based on the cognitive mediation model of learning from the news, this study qualitatively explores this three-step process of news exposure, engagement, and knowledge via digital media. Focus group discussions with post-Millennials ( N = 60) and thematic analysis of the results reveal several tensions. Participants see social media as imperfect but unavoidably convenient ways to get news, and they find the personalised news content available to be both a benefit and a drawback. They show a general hesitation to engage publicly with news content, opting mostly to passively observe others’ discussions on social media. Finally, they feel that social media give them a sense of awareness of current events, but do not prompt deeper learning about news topics.

Conceptualizing different forms of news processing following incidental news contact: A triple-path model

Research on incidental news exposure in the context of social media focuses on ‘successful’ incidental news exposure – when unintended news contacts result in active engagement and knowledge gains. However, we lack both theoretical and empirical approaches to the far more likely case that people keep on scrolling through their newsfeed without any post triggering active engagement. To fill this gap, the article conceptualizes a triple-path model of incidental news exposure on social media as a process. Building upon the Cognitive Mediation Model, dual system theories on information processing and recent empirical findings, three different pathways of incidental news processing are identified: automatic, incidental and active. The triple-path model thus allows to theorize the learning potentials that can plausibly be expected from each incidental news exposure path as a starting point for future research.

Imagining the Emergence of the Human: Reflections on Chris Johnson's Late Work

This paper offers a series of commentaries and reflections on certain of Christopher Johnson's lines of argument as perceived from the perspective of cognitive studies, with particular reference to the notion of embodied cognition. It opens with a brief outline of his work on the evolution of human intelligence in the context of the conceptually parallel question of the evolution of cognition. Subsequently, it raises questions about what this account does not include — notably an anthropological view of the role of literature — and what difference that absence might make. It further proposes that a spectrum view of the relationship between ‘body’ and ‘mind’ might helpfully supplement a view which is by implication oppositional and hierarchical. The overall concern of the paper is to reflect on what it might mean to ‘mediate thought’, and more specifically on the economy of such (cognitive) mediation.

Exploring the Perception of Students using Student-Centered Learning Approach in a Malaysian Public University

This study investigated students’ perception towards language courses using student-centered learning approach at University Utara Malaysia (UUM). Students’ perception was measured through a model termed as environmental, cognitive, affective, and metacognitive mediation (ECAM) which is a common teaching and learning technique used in classroom activities. To assess the implementation of ECAM; qualitative analysis was conducted based on observations of students’ activities in two language courses. The findings of the study indicated that the students employed the techniques of ECAM model. However, cognitive mediation learning technique was extensively used by the students. Moreover, audio-taped interviews were also conducted with four voluntary undergraduate students. The findings from the interviews’ interpretation revealed that students also explicit positive viewpoints about student-centered learning approach.