The ubiquity of formal education in modern nations is often accompanied by an assumption that students’ motivation for learning is innate and self-sustaining. The latter is true for most children in domains (e.g., language) that are universal and have a deep evolutionary history, but this does not extend to learning in evolutionarily novel domains (e.g., mathematics). Learning in evolutionarily novel domains requires more cognitive effort and thus is less motivating. The current study tested the associated hypothesis that learning will feel easier and more motivating for evolutionarily relevant (e.g., “mother,” “food”) than evolutionarily novel (e.g., “computer,” “gravity”) word pairs and that a growth mindset emphasizing the importance of effort in learning might moderate this effect. Specifically, 144 adults were presented with 32 word pairs (half evolutionarily relevant and half evolutionarily novel) and were randomly assigned to a growth mindset or a control condition. Evolutionarily relevant words were better remembered than evolutionarily novel words (d = 0.65), and the learning was reported as more enjoyable (d = 0.49), more interesting (d = 0.38), as well as less difficult (d = − 0.96) and effortful (d = − 0.78). Although the growth mindset intervention fostered a mindset belief, compared to the control condition, it did not lead to improved recall performance or changes in motivational beliefs. These results are consistent with the prediction of higher motivation and better learning of evolutionarily relevant words and concepts than for evolutionarily novel words and concepts. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed.

现代国家普遍存在的正规教育常常伴随着一种假设，即学生的学习动机是天生的和自我维持的。对于大多数孩子来说，后者是普遍存在且具有深刻进化历史的领域（例如语言），但这并不适用于在进化新颖的领域（例如数学）中的学习。在进化新颖的领域中学习需要更多的认知努力，因此动力较少。当前的研究测试了相关的假设，即学习与进化相关的（例如“母亲”、“食物”）比进化新颖的（例如“计算机”、“重力”）单词对更容易、更有动力，并且成长心态强调学习努力的重要性可能会减轻这种影响。具体来说，向 144 名成年人提供了 32 个单词对（一半与进化相关，一半与进化新颖），并被随机分配到成长心态或控制条件。与进化相关的单词比进化新颖的单词更容易被记住（d  = 0.65），并且学习被报告为更愉快（d  = 0.49），更有趣（d  = 0.38），以及不太困难（d  = − 0.96）和努力（d  = − 0.78）。尽管成长心态干预培养了心态信念，但与控制条件相比，它并没有导致回忆表现的改善或动机信念的改变。这些结果与进化相关单词和概念比进化新单词和概念更高的动机和更好的学习的预测是一致的。讨论了对未来研究和教育实践的影响。