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Motivation and curiosity
Generated view: 20 sources whose Kunskapsbank note was filed under this theme, and the claims and candidates they link to.
Claims
C13 weakened
A short online lesson teaching that intellectual ability can be developed (a growth-mindset intervention) raises the grades of lower-achieving secondary-school students by a small amount, but does little for students on average; that struggling students gain more than other students is not established across studies: in a meta-analysis of 63 studies, samples with low grades or at risk of failing gained about 0.07 standard deviations (0.09 in studies that checked the lesson changed mindsets), not significantly more than other students, and the best-designed studies were too few to check (Macnamara & Burgoyne 2023), although the largest preregistered trial did test it and found a larger gain for students in the lower half of their school's grades than for the upper half (about 0.10 against 0.01 grade points; difference P = .034; Yeager et al. 2019).
Serves: Q1
Ages: grundskola-hog, gymnasium
Bounds: Short (about an hour or less), standalone growth-mindset interventions in secondary school, outcome grades or achievement; not praise or feedback in general (C4), not long-term programmes. Evidence on file: Yeager et al. 2019 (Nature; preregistered national US trial; grades improved for lower-achieving students, context-dependent on peer norms; correction 2026-10-19: "lower-achieving" there means at or below the school-specific median GPA, half of all students, not low achievers in absolute terms; core-course GPA at the end of ninth grade +0.10 grade points for them (95% CI 0.04 to 0.16), +0.01 for higher achievers (P = 0.634), intervention × lower-achiever interaction B = 0.09 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.17, P = 0.034; Extended Data Table 1 legend); grades followed only to the end of ninth grade); Sisk et al. 2018 (two meta-analyses; intervention meta k = 43, N = 57,155; overall effects weak, possible benefit for low-SES or at-risk students). Differential bound (2026-10-16; enriched 2026-11-06): Macnamara & Burgoyne 2023 (Psychological Bulletin; 63 studies, N = 97,672) coded academic challenge as a preregistered moderator: high-challenge samples d = 0.07 [0.01, 0.13], low-challenge 0.05, difference ns (Q(2) = 0.28, p = .870); high-challenge levels pool children, adolescents and adults. The secondary-school–relevant developmental cell is adolescents d̄ = 0.04, 95% CI [0.002, 0.09], p = .041 (Table 7; Q(2) across ages = 0.47, ns). Meta-Analysis 3's "highest-quality" set (6 studies, N = 13,571, overall d̄ = 0.02 [−0.06, 0.10]) rests on a bar lowered to ≥60% of the authors' 10 best-practice criteria, because zero mindset-shifting studies met every criterion (p. 28). Macnamara & Burgoyne write that Yeager et al. 2019 did not report a test of whether lower achievers' effect differed from higher achievers'; the trial's Extended Data Table 1 legend does report it (see above), so the "not established" clause rests on the meta-analysis's between-study moderator test, not on an absence of within-trial tests (corrected 2026-10-19).
Attack record: 1 attack: 1 narrowed · Evidence links: 8 linked sources (2 supports, 5 limits, 1 challenges)
8 link(s) from sources in this view.
Promising people a tangible reward (such as money or a prize) simply for doing an activity they already find interesting makes them choose to do it less on their own once the reward stops, by roughly 0.2 to 0.4 standard deviations compared with no reward, and children are hit at least as hard as adults.
Serves: Q1 (How do humans actually learn, and what helps them learn best?)
Ages: grundskola-lag, grundskola-hog, vuxen-livslangt
Bounds: Expected tangible rewards for activities people already find interesting, with later free-choice engagement as the outcome; not grades or task-process feedback (C4) and not short growth-mindset lessons (C13). Evidence on file: Deci, Koestner & Ryan 1999 (Psychological Bulletin 125(6), 627–668, DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627; abstract): meta of 128 experiments; free-choice intrinsic motivation undermined by engagement-contingent (d = −0.40), completion-contingent (d = −0.36) and performance-contingent rewards (d = −0.28); tangible and expected rewards harmed; worse for children than college students; positive feedback enhanced free-choice (d = 0.33). Cameron & Pierce 1994 (Review of Educational Research 64(3), 363–423, DOI 10.3102/00346543064003363; abstract): 96 between-groups experiments; overall reward did not decrease intrinsic motivation; the only negative effect was expected tangible rewards given simply for doing a task (minimal); verbal praise increased motivation. Kill-test survived 2026-10-27: Cameron, Banko & Pierce 2001 (The Behavior Analyst 24(1), 1–44, DOI 10.1007/BF03392017; full text): even this counter-meta found expected tangible rewards on high-interest tasks lowered free-choice (d1 = −0.18, CI −0.23 to −0.13) and rewards offered for doing the task lowered it further (all 57 studies d1 = −0.35, CI −0.43 to −0.27, not homogeneous; with outliers removed d+ = −0.30, CI −0.38 to −0.22, K = 50, N = 2,642; Figure 1, p. 17; precision corrected 2026-10-30); free-choice was unchanged or higher when rewards were tied to meeting a score or exceeding others — a contingency carve-out, not a kill of the claim's "for doing" wording. The same meta's carve-out is narrower than it looks for pay per unit solved (corrected 2026-10-28; full text pp. 19–20): when people could earn the maximum, free-choice was unchanged (K = 6, N = 345, d1 = −0.03, CI −0.25 to 0.18), but when they earned less than the maximum it fell (K = 14, N = 749, d1 = −0.22, CI −0.37 to −0.07); the authors conclude the negative effect of pay per unit goes with receiving less than the maximum reward. Murayama, Matsumoto, Izuma & Matsumoto 2010 (PNAS 107(49), 20911–20916, DOI 10.1073/pnas.1013305107; PMC full text; n = 28) is consistent: ¥200 per successful trial on an interesting stopwatch task, against yoked equal pay, cut voluntary plays in 3-minute free-choice periods after the reward stopped (F(1,26) = 6.59, P = .016) — a small, non-preregistered lab test, support only, not a kill-condition trial. Durability (added 2026-10-30): of seven experiments with rewards for doing the task that measured free choice again a few weeks later, only two still showed a significant drop (Cameron et al. 2001, pp. 23–24); the drop C22 describes is measured in a free-choice period soon after the reward stops, and whether it lasts is open (open question 19). Bitter, Wondra, McCrea, Darzi & Novak 2022 (Technology, Mind, and Behavior 3(1), 39–56, DOI 10.1037/tmb0000056; full text; added 2026-10-30): two preregistered online 2 × 2 experiments with US crowd-workers (N = 441 and 1,105; mean age about 40) on a location-memory task; removing pay of 1–3 cents per correct response lowered free-choice attempts and performance minutes later (pooled over both studies d = .19, 95% CI .05 to .34, and d = .22, .08 to .36; Study 2 alone .17 and .16) — consistent with the bottom of the range for adults, but the pay was per correct response (performance-contingent), not simply for doing, so it is support and not a kill-condition test. Child–adult prong (corrected 2026-10-30; contingency enrichment 2026-11-06): now read in full text in Deci, Koestner & Ryan 2001 (Review of Educational Research 71(1), 1–27, DOI 10.3102/00346543071001001; Table 1, the same meta-analytic data as Deci et al. 1999): rewards given simply for engaging in the task lowered free choice more in children (d = −0.43, k = 39) than in college students (d = −0.21, k = 12), and the authors report the difference as significant; for tangible rewards overall the undermining was significantly greater for children on both free-choice and self-report measures. The same Table 1: completion-contingent free-choice d = −0.44 (k = 19); performance-contingent free-choice d = −0.28 (k = 32), of which maximal reward d = −0.15 (k = 18) and not-maximum reward d = −0.88 (k = 6). Cameron et al. 2001 tried age as a moderator for rewards for doing the task and could not resolve it (p. 17). Deci 1999 and Cameron & Pierce 1994 remain abstract-only; Deci et al. 2001, Cameron et al. 2001 and Bitter et al. 2022 are full text.
Attack record: 1 attack: 1 survived · Evidence links: 6 linked sources (5 supports, 1 limits, 1 challenges)
7 link(s) from sources in this view.
Pupils and students with higher test anxiety get lower test scores and grades than calmer peers, at every school age studied: the link is negative and about r = −0.2 (small to moderate), not close to zero.
Serves: Q1 (How do humans actually learn, and what helps them learn best?)
Ages: grundskola-lag, grundskola-hog, gymnasium, vuxen-livslangt
Bounds: An association, not proof that anxiety causes lower results (weaker pupils may also become more anxious). Evidence on file: Robson, Johnstone, Putwain & Howard 2023 (Journal of School Psychology, DOI 10.1016/j.jsp.2023.02.003; full text): 76 studies, N = 53,617 children aged 5–12; maths r = −.21 (95% CI −.30 to −.13), literacy r = −.20 (−.29 to −.10), general school achievement r = −.23 (−.29 to −.16); some publication bias and heterogeneity. von der Embse, Jester, Roy & Post 2018 (Journal of Affective Disorders, DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.048; abstract only): 238 studies; significant negative relations to standardised tests, entrance exams and GPA, small to moderate, strongest in the middle grades. Kill-condition test survived 2026-11-03 (nightly attack): Caviola, Toffalini, Giofrè, Mercader Ruiz, Szűcs & Mammarella 2021 (Educational Psychology Review 34(1), 363–399, DOI 10.1007/s10648-021-09618-5; open access, full text read): meta-analysis of academic anxiety and maths performance (177 studies, 906,311 participants overall); test anxiety and maths performance r = −.23 (95% CI −.26 to −.19), high heterogeneity, children versus adults not a significant moderator. Maths only, correlational, and partly the same studies as von der Embse et al. 2018.
Attack record: 1 attack: 1 survived · Evidence links: 4 linked sources (4 supports)
1 link(s) from sources in this view.
C27 weakened
Assigned homework goes with higher achievement, and in correlational studies the link is clearly stronger for pupils in grades 7–12 than in grades K–6, where it is small; but the small early-grade link has not been shown to mean a small effect: in the few experiments, classes given homework scored higher than classes without it, and in a systematic review whose homework-versus-none experiments were mostly in grades 3–6 (6 of 10; 4 in grades 7–12) the gain was about 0.45 standard deviations (mostly old studies at moderate to critical risk of bias; Guo et al. 2024).
Serves: Q1 (How do humans actually learn, and what helps them learn best?)
Ages: grundskola-lag, grundskola-hog, gymnasium
Bounds: Assigned homework and achievement; most evidence is correlational, and the size depends on how homework is measured (students' own reports gave stronger links). Evidence on file: Cooper, Robinson & Patall 2006 (Review of Educational Research, DOI 10.3102/00346543076001001; full text): generally consistent positive influence across designs; correlations stronger in grades 7–12 than K–6; five experiments with usable effects gave a mean d ≈ .60 on unit tests (95% CI about .38–.82), with design and unit-of-analysis limits. Fan, Xu, Cai, He & Fan 2017 (Educational Research Review 20, DOI 10.1016/j.edurev.2016.11.003; abstract/secondary summary only, flagged): maths and science r ≈ .22; numbers must be checked in the paper before any ledger use. Weakened 2026-11-03 (nightly attack): Guo, Li, Xu, Hu, Liu, Xing, Li, White & Yang 2024 (Campbell Systematic Reviews 20(3), e1431, DOI 10.1002/cl2.1431; open access, full text read): 11 controlled studies of homework versus no homework (2 RCTs, both at high risk of bias; 9 non-randomised, 4 moderate, 2 serious and 3 critical risk of bias; most published 1939–1995; only one with a follow-up); pooled g = 0.45 (95% CI 0.24–0.66; 14 comparisons; I² = 71%), arithmetic computation g = 0.46, problem solving g = 0.17, concepts not significant; the 14 homework-versus-none comparisons come from 10 studies published 1939–1995 in grades 3 (2 studies), 4–6 (1), 5 (1), 6 (2), 7 (1; Foran & Weber 1939), 8 (1; Ewart Anderson 1946) and senior high-school English (2; McGrath 1992, Tupesis 1972), so 6 of 10 in grades 3–6 and 4 in grades 7–12; the grade-2 randomised trial (Dolean & Lervåg 2021), the only study with a follow-up, compared more with less homework and is not in the pooled g; no grade-level subgroup analysis was possible (corrected 2026-11-04 against Table 2 and §5.3.1; the earlier "of the 8 studies that reported grade, 7 were in grades 2–6 and 1 in grade 8" was wrong). The review's RCT labels differ between §5.2.1 and Table 2; Egger's test p = 0.06. So the grade 7–12 versus K–6 contrast rests on correlations; the experimental evidence, though weak, is mostly from primary school and does not show a small effect there.
Attack record: 1 attack: 1 narrowed · Evidence links: 4 linked sources (2 supports, 2 limits)
1 link(s) from sources in this view.
Candidates (not approved)
- K32: People remember the answer to a question better, a day or more later, when they were curious about the question before seeing the answer. (2 link(s))
- K33: Short writing tasks where students connect course material to their own lives raise course grades for students with low expectations of success. (2 link(s))
Sources