Doucleff, M. (2018, June 21). A Lost Secret: How To Get Kids To Pay Attention. Retrieved July 23, 2018

Students are more likely to pay attention if they have the motivation to do so, according to research by psychologists Barbara Rogoff and Maricela Correa-Chavez. The pair compared white students from California and Maya students from Guatemala and suggested that students from Guatemala may be more motivated to pay attention because their parents give them more autonomy and freedom to set their own goals.