Motivation as Phase Transition: A Dynamical Systems Approach to Intrinsic Motivation

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Auteur principal: Ishibashi, Ryuhei
Format: Recurso digital
Langue:anglais
Publié: Zenodo 2025
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author Ishibashi, Ryuhei
author_facet Ishibashi, Ryuhei
contents <p>Recent critiques of motivation theory have argued that constructs like "intrinsic<br>motivation" function as explanatory black boxes, describing behavioral patterns without<br>explaining their generative mechanisms (Murayama and Jach, 2024). This paper<br>proposes that motivation be reconceptualized as a phase transition phenomenon<br>governed by symmetry-breaking dynamics. Using the Landau-Stuart equation as the<br>canonical form, we identify critical conditions, order parameters, and transition<br>dynamics applicable to motivational states. We further propose that first-person<br>phenomenology of motivational transitions - the felt sense of "almost getting it," sudden<br>engagement, and gradual dissolution - corresponds to proximity to criticality,<br>bifurcation events, and hysteretic return. This framework transforms motivation from a<br>static trait or emergent property into a dynamical system with measurable parameters<br>and predictable behavior. We discuss implications for intervention design, individual<br>differences in critical thresholds, and the relationship between motivation and attention.</p>
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language eng
publishDate 2025
publisher Zenodo
record_format zenodo
spellingShingle Motivation as Phase Transition: A Dynamical Systems Approach to Intrinsic Motivation
Ishibashi, Ryuhei
motivation
phase transition
intrinsic motivation
dynamical systems
order parameter
hysteresis
<p>Recent critiques of motivation theory have argued that constructs like "intrinsic<br>motivation" function as explanatory black boxes, describing behavioral patterns without<br>explaining their generative mechanisms (Murayama and Jach, 2024). This paper<br>proposes that motivation be reconceptualized as a phase transition phenomenon<br>governed by symmetry-breaking dynamics. Using the Landau-Stuart equation as the<br>canonical form, we identify critical conditions, order parameters, and transition<br>dynamics applicable to motivational states. We further propose that first-person<br>phenomenology of motivational transitions - the felt sense of "almost getting it," sudden<br>engagement, and gradual dissolution - corresponds to proximity to criticality,<br>bifurcation events, and hysteretic return. This framework transforms motivation from a<br>static trait or emergent property into a dynamical system with measurable parameters<br>and predictable behavior. We discuss implications for intervention design, individual<br>differences in critical thresholds, and the relationship between motivation and attention.</p>
title Motivation as Phase Transition: A Dynamical Systems Approach to Intrinsic Motivation
topic motivation
phase transition
intrinsic motivation
dynamical systems
order parameter
hysteresis
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18017689