Data to Investigate Interest Development in Information about Lesser Known Countries

Interest is an important motivational element for learning in the school environment. However, little research has directly addressed how interest changes over time as knowledge accumulates. To gain a better understanding of how knowledge acquisition influences intra-individual change of interest, we developed a novel paradigm in which participants gain step-by-step information about lesser known countries. After reading each piece of information, participants rated their interest in the country. Growth-curve modelling showed that interest grows during knowledge acquisition until it eventually stalls and starts to decline. We also found that the opportunity to choose information boosted the growth in interest and delayed its decline. Further analysis revealed that people disengaged from a topic (i.e. stopped accessing information about a particular country) when their interest started to decrease.

兴趣是学校教育场景中学习行为的重要动机要素。然而，目前鲜有研究直接探讨兴趣如何随知识积累发生动态变化。为深入解析知识获取对个体内部兴趣变化的影响机制，我们研发了一种新颖的实验范式：让参与者逐步获取关于小众国家的相关信息。每阅读一则信息后，参与者需对自身在该国的兴趣程度进行评分。通过增长曲线建模分析发现，兴趣在知识获取过程中持续攀升，最终达到平台期并开始回落。此外，我们还发现，允许参与者自主选择信息内容能够有效促进兴趣的增长，并延缓其下降趋势。进一步分析结果显示，当个体的兴趣开始下降时，他们会主动脱离该主题，即停止获取关于特定国家的相关信息。