Theoretical models have suggested that teachers' motivational beliefs relate to various student academic outcomes through particular teaching practices, and that teachers' motivational beliefs and teaching practices are reciprocally interrelated. However, these relations have rarely been tested in longitudinal work. We extend previous research by…

Conscientiousness and interest are well-known predictors of academic effort and achievement. As hypothesized by the Conscientiousness × Interest Compensation (CONIC) model, conscientiousness and interest can (partly) compensate for each other, leading to (comparatively) high effort if either conscientiousness or interest is high. The present…

Psychological research and theory have traditionally suggested that opportunities for choosing will lead to motivation and performance benefits. However, evidence on choice effects has not been ubiquitously positive, and recent investigations have revealed factors that diminish or reverse the effects of choosing. This investigation sought to…

This research examined whether the informational advantage of an animation over a static picture (and over no visualizations as a control condition) can be compensated by presenting the information in the text that constitutes this informational advantage. In addition, it was investigated whether learners' spatial abilities acted as a compensator…

Despite the increasing number of studies examining the correlates of interest and boredom, surprisingly little research has focused on within-person fluctuations in these emotions, making it difficult to describe their situational nature. To address this gap in the literature, this study conducted repeated measurements (12 times) on a sample of…

Prior models suggest that math attitudes and ability might strengthen each other over time in a reciprocal fashion (Ma, 1997). The current study investigated the relationship between math interest and skill both concurrently and over time in a preschool sample. Analyses of concurrent relationships indicated that high levels of interest were…

The research presented in this article integrates 3 theoretical perspectives in the field of motivation: expectancy-value, achievement goals, and interest. The authors examined the antecedents (initial interest, achievement goals) and consequences (interest, performance) of task value judgments in 2 learning contexts: a college classroom and a…

The ability (fluid and crystallized intelligence) and nonability (personality, interests, self-concept, etc.) determinants of domain knowledge before and after an independent learning opportunity were evaluated in the context of a study of 141 adults between the ages of 18 and 69. The domain knowledge under consideration included an array of…

Two experiments involving 125 college and graduate students examined the interrelationship of subject-matter knowledge, interest, and recall in the field of human immunology and biology and assessed cross-domain performance in physics. Patterns of knowledge, interest, and performance fit well with the premises of the Model of Domain Learning. (SLD)

Two experiments investigated some of the cognitive and affective causes of interest and liking. Results did not support the hypothesis that degree of surprise per se causes interest. The hypothesis that interest and liking arise from different causes was supported. (Author/LMO)

The comprehensibility, interestingness, familiarity, and memorability of concrete and abstract instructional texts were studied in 4 experiments involving 221 college students. Results indicate that concreteness (ease of imagery) is the variable overwhelmingly most related to comprehensibility and recall. Dual coding theory and schema theory are…

Two experiments involving skilled readers (159 college students) explored the benefits to student attitude and content retention of adding emotional interest, through seductive text, or cognitive interest, through signals for structural understanding, to scientific text. Results support the benefits of cognitive over emotional interest. (SLD)