A dissociation between engagement and learning: Enthusiastic instructions fail to reliably improve performance on a memory task.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read Online Read More Add to Saved list
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
    • Subject Terms:
      Learning/*physiology ; Memory/*physiology ; Mental Recall/*physiology ; Motivation/*physiology; Adolescent ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Task Performance and Analysis ; Young Adult
    • Abstract:
      Despite widespread assertions that enthusiasm is an important quality of effective teaching, empirical research on the effect of enthusiasm on learning and memory is mixed and largely inconclusive. To help resolve these inconsistencies, we conducted a carefully-controlled laboratory experiment, investigating whether enthusiastic instructions for a memory task would improve recall accuracy. Scripted videos, either enthusiastic or neutral, were used to manipulate the delivery of task instructions. We also manipulated the sequence of learning items, replicating the spacing effect, a known cognitive technique for memory improvement. Although spaced study reliably improved test performance, we found no reliable effect of enthusiasm on memory performance across two experiments. We did, however, find that enthusiastic instructions caused participants to respond to more item prompts, leaving fewer test questions blank, an outcome typically associated with increased task motivation. We find no support for the popular claim that enthusiastic instruction will improve learning, although it may still improve engagement. This dissociation between motivation and learning is discussed, as well as its implications for education and future research on student learning.
    • References:
      Psychol Sci. 2014 Mar;25(3):639-47. (PMID: 24444515)
      Am J Pharm Educ. 2014 Sep 15;78(7):132. (PMID: 25258437)
      Psychol Monogr. 1966;80(18):1-22. (PMID: 5971462)
      Psychon Bull Rev. 2016 Feb;23(1):103-23. (PMID: 26450628)
      Scand J Psychol. 2005 Aug;46(4):323-30. (PMID: 16014076)
      J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013 May;142(2):573-603. (PMID: 22774788)
      Science. 2013 Nov 22;342(6161):935-7. (PMID: 24264979)
      Psychon Bull Rev. 2013 Dec;20(6):1350-6. (PMID: 23645413)
      Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2003;8(1):17-26. (PMID: 12652166)
      Cogn Sci. 2017 May;41(4):924-949. (PMID: 27344981)
      Psychol Rev. 1996 Jul;103(3):490-517. (PMID: 8759045)
      Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Feb 7;:null. (PMID: 28176294)
      Psychol Bull. 2006 May;132(3):354-80. (PMID: 16719566)
      Br J Educ Psychol. 2012 Sep;82(Pt 3):420-35. (PMID: 22881047)
      J Exp Psychol Appl. 2016 Jun;22(2):161-72. (PMID: 26844368)
      Memory. 2009 Jul;17(5):493-501. (PMID: 19468957)
      Behav Res Methods. 2015 Mar;47(1):1-12. (PMID: 24683129)
      Memory. 2016;24(2):257-71. (PMID: 25625188)
      Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2013 Jan;14(1):4-58. (PMID: 26173288)
      J Med Educ. 1975 Feb;50(2):149-56. (PMID: 1120118)
      Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Apr 12;:null. (PMID: 28405907)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20170722 Date Completed: 20170925 Latest Revision: 20181113
    • Publication Date:
      20240104
    • Accession Number:
      PMC5521834
    • Accession Number:
      10.1371/journal.pone.0181775
    • Accession Number:
      28732087