An educational-psychological theory of interest and its relation to SDT.

Abstract

In everyday thinking as well as in educational and psychological discussions of learning and development, the concept of interest plays an important role. One of the earliest theories of interest was developed by Herbart at the beginning of the nineteenth century (1806/1965), and by the beginning of the twentieth century, well-known authors were postulating that being interested was not only an important motivational condition for effective learning but was also central to people's personality and self-concept (Arnold, 1906; Berlyne, 1949; Claparede, 1905; Dewey, 1913; Thorndike, 1935). However, in the middle of this century, although the interest concept was still prominent in vocational training research, there was a noticeable decline in interest-related research in the field of learning and development.