Seductive detail amount did not increase learners' intrinsic motivation in either study¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Contrary to the motivational view (H3), the SD amount did not affect intrinsic motivation in Study 1 (b = 0.01, p = .892) or Study 2 (b = −0.06, p = .628). → Lukas Wesenberg 2026
Evidence¶
Lukas Wesenberg 2026¶
Lukas Wesenberg, Sebastian Jansen, Felix Krieglstein, Felicia Meusel, Sascha Schneider, Georg Valtin, Günter Daniel Rey. (2026). The more, the worse? The influence of the seductive detail amount on learning. Instructional Science (2026) 54:29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-026-09781-8
q3 · i? · causal · r2
Regression on the interest/enjoyment subscale of the intrinsic motivation inventory with Study 1's 191 students; the overall model was significant, F(5, 185) = 4.47, p =.001, R² = 0.11, but "the SD amount did not affect the intrinsic motiva - tion". Equivalence was not tested.
"Contrary to H3, the SD amount did not affect the intrinsic motiva - tion, b = 0.01, p =.892 (see the appendix for a line chart)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- In Study 1, a greater seductive detail amount linearly worsened recall performance (b = −0.11, p = .030)
- In Study 2 with a longer text and five SD amounts, greater seductive detail amount again worsened recall (b = −0.33, p = .005)
- Seductive detail amount did not increase extraneous cognitive load in either study
- Seductive detail amount did not significantly affect transfer performance in Study 1
- Interesting but irrelevant details can impair comprehension and transfer, with effects that vary with the material and the learner
- Extraneous cognitive load did not mediate the detrimental effect of seductive details in this online study — related
- No seductive details effect on transfer was observed, and no definitive conclusions about comprehension effects can be drawn from the multiple-choice transfer data — related
- Choice increased task engagement and end-of-semester interest, and task engagement mediated the effect of choice on course performance — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
sd-amount-no-motivation-effect |
title |
Seductive detail amount did not increase learners' intrinsic motivation in either study |
description |
Seductive detail amount did not increase learners' intrinsic motivation in either study |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — lukas-wesenberg-2026 |
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