The constructs of motivation (or needs, motives, etc.) to explain higher-order behavior have burgeoned in psychology. In this article, we critically evaluate such high-level motivation constructs that many researchers define as causal determinants of behavior. We identify a fundamental issue with this predominant view of motivation, which we called the black-box problem. Specifically, high-level motivation constructs have been considered as causally instigating a wide range of higher-order behavior, but this does not explain what they actually are or how behavioral tendencies are generated. The black box problem inevitably makes the construct ill-defined and jeopardizes its theoretical status. To address the problem, we discuss the importance of mental computational processes underlying motivated behavior. Critically, from this perspective, motivation is not a unitary construct that causes a wide range of higher-order behavior --- it is an emergent property that people construe through the regularities of subjective experiences and behavior. The proposed perspective opens new avenues for future theoretical development, i.e., the examination of how motivated behavior is realized through mental computational processes.

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对解释高阶行为的动机结构的批判：我们应该打开黑匣子

解释高阶行为的动机（或需要、动机等）的结构在心理学中迅速兴起。在本文中，我们批判性地评估了许多研究人员将其定义为行为因果决定因素的高级动机结构。我们发现了这种主流动机观点的一个基本问题，我们称之为黑匣子问题。具体来说，高层次的动机结构被认为是因果性地引发了广泛的高阶行为，但这并不能解释它们实际上是什么或行为倾向是如何产生的。黑箱问题不可避免地使该结构定义不明确并危及其理论地位。为了解决这个问题，我们讨论了动机行为背后的心理计算过程的重要性。至关重要的是，从这个角度来看，动机并不是一个导致广泛的高阶行为的单一结构——它是人们通过主观经验和行为的规律性来解释的一种新兴属性。所提出的观点为未来的理论发展开辟了新的途径，即检查动机行为是如何通过心理计算过程实现的。