Curiosity – the intrinsic desire to acquire new information – is a key factor for learning and memory in everyday life. To date, there has been very little research on curiosity and, therefore, our understanding of how curiosity impacts learning is relatively poor. In this chapter, we give an overview of psychological theories of curiosity and how initial research has focused on curiosity as a specific personality characteristic (i.e. trait curiosity). We then review recent findings on curiosity emerging in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Rather than examining trait curiosity, this recent line of research explores how temporary states of curiosity affect cognitive processes. Recent findings suggest that curiosity states elicit activity in the brain's dopaminergic circuit and thereby enhance hippocampus-dependent learning for information associated with high curiosity but also for incidental information encountered during high-curiosity states. We speculate how this new line of curiosity research could help to better understand the mechanisms underlying curiosity-related learning and potentially lead to a fruitful avenue of translating laboratory-based findings on curiosity into educational settings.

In this chapter, we describe psychological and neuroscientific research that demonstrates the unique characteristics of self-related information processing. These characteristics have been shown to produce beneficial effects on basic functions (such as perception, attention, and actions), as well as on higher-order cognitive activities (including memory). The findings are explained by their correspondence to the neurocorrelates of self-related information processing. Northoff's (2016) basic model of the self, which describes self-specificity to be a fundamental aspect of the brain's spontaneous (resting) activity, provides further clarification of these results. After considering the unique characteristics of self-related information processing, we describe the potential benefits of considering findings from neuroscience for educational practice by pointing to the positive outcomes of utility value interventions. More specifically, these types of interventions, which are grounded in the expectancy-value theory of student motivation, are examples of how self-related information processing can have educational benefits by increasing motivation and learning.

Several decades of research highlight the benefits of various motivational beliefs (e.g., perceived competence, achievement goals, task value) in supporting students’ learning and engagement. Much of this research utilizes a variable-focused approach, examining how different forms of motivation uniquely and independently predict educational outcomes. In contrast, a person-oriented approach allows one to examine how motivational processes combine to shape academic engagement and achievement. Person-oriented approaches are especially promising in that they allow one to simultaneously consider variations in several motivational indicators to better understand the multiple ways that students utilize motivational resources to support engagement and achievement. This chapter presents an integrative, person-oriented approach to studying student motivation. Specifically, the approach (1) draws from multiple theoretical perspectives to operationalize motivation, and (2) utilizes person-oriented analyses to model how motivational components combine to shape learning and engagement. Based on prior research and our own work, preliminary conclusions regarding what motivates students and which combinations of motivation are most and least adaptive are discussed. Implications for translating integrative research into effective classroom practices to support student motivation are considered.

The construct of self-concept lies at the core of the positive psychology revolution. Historically, as one of the cornerstone constructs in the social sciences, the approach to self-concept has been adapted to focus on how healthy individuals can thrive in life. In this chapter we differentiate between the historical unidimensional perspective of self-concept (centered on self-esteem) and the evolving multifaceted models discriminating between different aspects of self (such as specific academic, social, physical, and emotional components).

We review:

• the definition of self-concept and the reason it is so important;

• historical and evolving perspectives of self-concept;

• general and domain-specific theoretical models with associated empirical research regarding self-concept, motivation, and performance;

• the way different self-concept domains vary as a function of gender and age;

• the impact of specific psychological and social traits on self-concept development;

• the differentiation between multidimensional perspectives of personality and self-concept;

• theoretical models of academic self-concept formation and its relation to achievement;

• frame of reference effects in self-concept formation;

• a construct-validity approach to self-concept enhancement interventions; and directions for further research.

This chapter examines boredom – an emotion often described as one of the plagues of modern societies. In educational settings, boredom is also often experienced. The chapter first outlines how boredom is defined and operationalized including current approaches to differentiating specific types of boredom. We further review the extent to which boredom has been investigated in the research literature and how it has been assessed. Empirical evidence on the prevalence of boredom in students is outlined, and preliminary findings on the frequency of boredom experiences in teachers is highlighted. Theoretical considerations and empirical findings are subsequently addressed concerning the effects and causes of academic boredom, as are relevant conceptual frameworks and findings on how to most effectively cope with boredom in educational settings. Implications for the prevention and reduction of boredom in the classroom following from empirical literature are then discussed. Finally, we outline potential next steps in research on academic boredom.

In this chapter, we draw on Gibson's (1979) description of affordances to consider cultural differences in motivation and learning. We develop the argument that affordances are at the heart of cultural differences. We address the way culture influences both what and how people learn from the affordances that are available to them in their physical and social environments. Brain processes of neural plasticity and psychological learning mechanisms of repetition and connection drawn from the Unified Learning Model (Shell et al., 2010) are used to explain how our brain and memory store knowledge of affordances, as well as the actions needed to take advantage of these affordances. We then discuss the way attention sits at the intersection of motivation and learning, as well as how motivated attention leads to individual and cultural differences in knowledge and use of affordances, both implicitly and volitionally. Finally, the emergence of cultural differences in attention, learning, knowing, and motivation are discussed, with an emphasis on the impact of culture on learning in school.

Academic effort is a key construct in research on motivational variables such as interest and in research on conscientiousness, one of the Big Five domains of human personality. Surprisingly, the two lines of research have rarely been brought together. In this chapter, we describe the differences and similarities in the theoretical foundation of the two constructs and review research on their predictive power for academic effort. We then introduce the Conscientiousness × Interest Compensation (CONIC) model which postulates that conscientiousness and interest (partly) compensate for each other in predicting academic effort. Subsequently, we present empirical evidence for the model. In the final section of the chapter, we formulate some next steps in a research program on conscientiousness and interest.

Student engagement is a relatively new construct that describes concepts as varied as classroom behaviors, emotional reactions, motivational beliefs, self-regulatory processes, metacognitive strategies, school belonging and interactions with instructional materials. This chapter reviews a variety of methods to measure student engagement including self-report surveys, teacher ratings, interviews, administrative data, observations, experience sampling methods, and real-time measures. The authors outline the strengths and limitations of each method. Next, we present two examples from our own research on approaches to measuring engagement. The goal of these cases is to illustrate how we have addressed some of the challenges with measurement, as well as showing the importance of choosing a measurement technique that aligns with the research questions. First, we describe the results of a qualitative study to develop a new subject-specific measure of engagement. Next, information on the predictive validity of an observational measure to assess engagement at the class-level is presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion of measurement limitations, future directions, and implications for policy and practice.