1
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Horn S, Litovsky Y, Loewenstein G. Using curiosity to counter health information avoidance. Soc Sci Med 2024; 340:116383. [PMID: 38039766 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Information that is beneficial for health decision-making is often ignored or actively avoided. Countering information avoidance can increase knowledge of disease risk factors and symptoms, aiding early diagnoses and reducing disease transmission. We examine whether curiosity can be a useful tool in increasing demand for, and engagement with, potentially aversive but useful health information. METHODS Four pre-registered randomized online studies were conducted with 5795 participants recruited from online survey platforms. Curiosity for aversive health information was manipulated by providing a 'curiosity incentive' - identity-related information alongside aversive information - (Study 1), obscuring information (Studies 2 and 3), and eliciting guesses about the information (Studies 2 and 4). Willingness to view four types of aversive health information was elicited: alcohol consumption screening scores (Study 1), colon cancer risk scores (Study 2), cancer risk factors (Study 3), and the sugar content of drinks (Study 4). RESULTS In Study 1, the curiosity manipulation increased the likelihood that participants viewed information about the riskiness of their drinking. Studies 2 and 3 show that curiosity prompts can counter people's reluctance to learn about and assess their cancer risk. And Study 4 shows that using curiosity prompts to encourage engagement with aversive information (sugar content of drinks) also improves health-related choices (opting for a sugar-free drink alternative). CONCLUSION Curiosity prompts provide an effective and simple way to increase engagement with aversive health information.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yana Litovsky
- Department of Banking and Finance, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - George Loewenstein
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
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2
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Arcos K, Hausman H, Storm BC. Are you sure? Examining the potential benefits of truth-checking as a learning activity. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023:17470218231206813. [PMID: 37787466 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231206813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Learners may be uncertain about whether encountered information is true. Uncertainty may encourage people to critically assess information's accuracy, serving as a kind of desirable difficulty that benefits learning. Uncertainty may also have negative effects, however, leading people to mistrust true information or to later misremember false information as true. In three experiments, participants read history statements. In one condition, all statements were true, and the participants knew it. In the other two conditions, some statements were true, and others were false. Participants were either told the statements' accuracy or they guessed the statements' accuracy prior to feedback, a manipulation we refer to as truth-checking. All participants were then tested on recalling the true information and on recognising true versus false statements. We observed a significant benefit of truth-checking in one of the three experiments, suggesting that truth-checking may have some potential to enhance learning, perhaps by inducing people to encode to-be-learned information more deeply than they would otherwise. Even so, the benefit may come at a cost-truth-checking took significantly longer than study alone, and it led to a greater likelihood of thinking false information was true, suggesting costs of truth-checking may tend to outweigh benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Arcos
- Division of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Hannah Hausman
- Division of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin C Storm
- Division of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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3
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Brooks G, Whitehead H, Kӧhler S. When familiarity not novelty motivates information-seeking behaviour. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5201. [PMID: 36997556 PMCID: PMC10063652 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31953-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Research has established that novelty motivates information-seeking behaviour in many situations. While novelty preferences have been well-studied, an understanding of conditions under which familiarity trumps novelty remains limited. Recent work has revealed that when a metacognitive experience indicates that unsuccessfully recalled information may still be available, a subsequent tendency to seek out unrecalled familiar information can emerge. We conducted three experiments to identify critical factors that determine when familiarity preferences can be observed. Experiment 1 demonstrated the critical role of a recent unsuccessful recall attempt in inducing such a preference. Experiment 2 revealed that the impact of recall attempts is not limited to situations that follow unsuccessful recall, as a familiarity preference was observed even when information was successfully generated. Experiment 3 showed that the level of confidence in the accuracy of any recalled information is a key factor, with moderate levels of confidence leading to the strongest subsequent familiarity preference. Together, our results suggest that novelty preferences in information-seeking are not ubiquitous, as specific situational demands including recent attempted memory retrieval, as well as metacognitive retrieval experiences, can induce familiarity preferences. Our findings can be interpreted within theoretical frameworks that emphasize the role of knowledge gaps as driving factors of information-seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Brooks
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Hannah Whitehead
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada
- Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 1V6, Canada
| | - Stefan Kӧhler
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada.
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4
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Colantonio J, Bascandziev I, Theobald M, Brod G, Bonawitz E. Seeing the Error in My " Bayes": A Quantified Degree of Belief Change Correlates with Children's Pupillary Surprise Responses Following Explicit Predictions. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 25:211. [PMID: 36832578 PMCID: PMC9955423 DOI: 10.3390/e25020211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Bayesian models allow us to investigate children's belief revision alongside physiological states, such as "surprise". Recent work finds that pupil dilation (or the "pupillary surprise response") following expectancy violations is predictive of belief revision. How can probabilistic models inform the interpretations of "surprise"? Shannon Information considers the likelihood of an observed event, given prior beliefs, and suggests stronger surprise occurs following unlikely events. In contrast, Kullback-Leibler divergence considers the dissimilarity between prior beliefs and updated beliefs following observations-with greater surprise indicating more change between belief states to accommodate information. To assess these accounts under different learning contexts, we use Bayesian models that compare these computational measures of "surprise" to contexts where children are asked to either predict or evaluate the same evidence during a water displacement task. We find correlations between the computed Kullback-Leibler divergence and the children's pupillometric responses only when the children actively make predictions, and no correlation between Shannon Information and pupillometry. This suggests that when children attend to their beliefs and make predictions, pupillary responses may signal the degree of divergence between a child's current beliefs and the updated, more accommodating beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Colantonio
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
| | - Igor Bascandziev
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Maria Theobald
- DIPF|Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Str. 6, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Garvin Brod
- DIPF|Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Str. 6, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Elizabeth Bonawitz
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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5
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Vilhunen E, Chiu MH, Salmela-Aro K, Lavonen J, Juuti K. Epistemic Emotions and Observations Are Intertwined in Scientific Sensemaking: A Study among Upper Secondary Physics Students. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION 2023; 21:1545-1566. [PMID: 36090464 PMCID: PMC9442553 DOI: 10.1007/s10763-022-10310-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between emotions and development of scientific understanding by examining (1) how students perform in scientific sensemaking in the context of a three-cycle predict-observe-explain (POE) activity, (2) what kind of trajectories of situational epistemic emotions students show when making sense of the phenomenon, and (3) how students' performance in sensemaking is related to their emotional trajectories. Data from 109 participant students were collected in six upper secondary physics classes. Students' performance in sensemaking was evaluated based on their answers on POE items and categorised through qualitative content analysis. Situational epistemic emotions (surprise, curiosity, confusion, and boredom) were measured using a four-point Likert scale after each POE cycle. Latent class growth analysis was used to identify groups of students with distinctive emotional trajectories. The relationship between the performance in POE activity and emotional trajectories was explored by a chi-square test. The results indicate that students' inability to make relevant observations is significantly related to experienced boredom. Furthermore, students who perform better in making sense of the phenomenon are more likely to experience surprise, curiosity, and confusion. This implies that engaging students to be curious when they observe and test predictions is an important mission for curriculum designers and teachers in practice. The findings underline the importance of epistemic emotions in educational settings and the complexity of the interplay between cognitive and affective factors in learning situations. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10763-022-10310-5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Vilhunen
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mei-Hung Chiu
- Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Katariina Salmela-Aro
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jari Lavonen
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Kalle Juuti
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5A), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Fitzgibbon L, Murayama K. Counterfactual curiosity: motivated thinking about what might have been. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210340. [PMID: 36314158 PMCID: PMC9620751 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Counterfactual information, information about what might have been, forms the content of counterfactual thoughts and emotions like regret and relief. Recent research suggests that human adults and children, as well as rhesus monkeys, demonstrate ‘counterfactual curiosity’: they are motivated to seek out counterfactual information after making decisions. Based on contemporary theories of curiosity and information seeking and a broad range of empirical literature, we suggest multiple heterogeneous psychological processes that contribute to people's motivation for counterfactual information. This includes processes that are identified in the curiosity literature more generally—the potential use of counterfactual information for adaptive decision making (its long-term instrumental value) and the drive to reduce uncertainty. Additionally, we suggest that counterfactual information may be particularly alluring because of its role in causal reasoning; its relationship with prediction and decision making; and its potential to fulfil emotion regulation and self-serving goals. Some future directions have been suggested, including investigating the role of individual differences in counterfactual curiosity on learning and wellbeing. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Fitzgibbon
- Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Kou Murayama
- Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
- Research Institute, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan
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7
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Brod G, Greve A, Jolles D, Theobald M, Galeano-Keiner EM. Explicitly predicting outcomes enhances learning of expectancy-violating information. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:2192-2201. [PMID: 35768657 PMCID: PMC9722848 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02124-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Predictive coding models suggest that the brain constantly makes predictions about what will happen next based on past experiences. Learning is triggered by surprising events, i.e., a prediction error. Does it benefit learning when these predictions are made deliberately, so that an individual explicitly commits to an outcome before experiencing it? Across two experiments, we tested whether generating an explicit prediction before seeing numerical facts boosts learning of expectancy-violating information relative to doing so post hoc. Across both experiments, predicting boosted memory for highly unexpected outcomes, leading to a U-shaped relation between expectedness and memory. In the post hoc condition, memory performance decreased with increased unexpectedness. Pupillary data of Experiment 2 further indicated that the pupillary surprise response to highly expectancy-violating outcomes predicted successful learning of these outcomes. Together, these findings suggest that generating an explicit prediction increases learners' stakes in the outcome, which particularly benefits learning of those outcomes that are different than expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garvin Brod
- DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Str. 6, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Andrea Greve
- MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dietsje Jolles
- Institute of Education and Child Studies, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Theobald
- DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Str. 6, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Elena M Galeano-Keiner
- DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Str. 6, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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8
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Zhang Y, Zhou H, Qin J. Research on the effect of uncertain rewards on impulsive purchase intention of blind box products. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:946337. [PMID: 36046369 PMCID: PMC9421032 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.946337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 2019, China has gradually seen a “blind box” boom, and young people have quickly become the main buying force of blind boxes, promoting the continuous development of the blind box industry. Previous studies have shown that uncertainty in events with positive prospects can play a more positive role than certainty. However, how does uncertainty in the blind box affect consumers’ emotions and cognition and trigger subsequent consumption decisions? To clarify the internal mechanism of this process, this paper takes the blind box as the research object and constructs the mechanism model of perceived uncertainty on consumers’ impulsive purchase intention, based on Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory. In addition, the curiosity variable and perceived luck variable are introduced according to the information gap theory and optimism theory. On this basis, we conduct an empirical analysis by means of a questionnaire survey. The results show that perceived uncertainty has a positive impact on consumers’ impulsive purchase intentions, in which curiosity plays a mediating role. Besides, perceived luck positively moderates the impact of perceived uncertainty on impulsive purchase intention. This study clarifies the internal impact of perceived uncertainty on impulsive purchase intention of the blind box and enriches the basic theory of uncertainty reward and purchase intention. At the same time, we also offer related recommendations for future enterprises to learn from the marketing model of uncertain rewards.
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9
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Theobald M, Galeano-Keiner E, Brod G. Predicting vs. guessing: the role of confidence for pupillometric markers of curiosity and surprise. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:731-740. [DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2029733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Theobald
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Elena Galeano-Keiner
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Garvin Brod
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
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10
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Aslan S, Fastrich G, Donnellan E, Jones DJW, Murayama K. People's naïve belief about curiosity and interest: A qualitative study. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256632. [PMID: 34591855 PMCID: PMC8483368 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to critically examine how people perceive the definitions, differences and similarities of interest and curiosity, and address the subjective boundaries between interest and curiosity. We used a qualitative research approach given the research questions and the goal to develop an in-depth understanding of people's meaning of interest and curiosity. We used data from a sample of 126 U.S. adults (48.5% male) recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (Mage = 40.7, SDage = 11.7). Semi-structured questions were used and thematic analysis was applied. The results showed two themes relating to differences between curiosity and interest; active/stable feelings and certainty/uncertainty. Curiosity was defined as an active feeling (more specifically a first, fleeting feeling) and a child-like emotion that often involves a strong urge to think actively and differently, whereas interest was described as stable and sustainable feeling, which is characterized as involved engagement and personal preferences (e.g., hobbies). In addition, participants related curiosity to uncertainty, e.g., trying new things and risk-taking behaviour. Certainty, on the other hand, was deemed as an important component in the definition of interest, which helps individuals acquire deep knowledge. Both curiosity and interest were reported to be innate and positive feelings that support motivation and knowledge-seeking during the learning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumeyye Aslan
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
| | - Greta Fastrich
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
| | - Ed Donnellan
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel J. W. Jones
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
| | - Kou Murayama
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, England, United Kingdom
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11
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Garvin B, Krishnan S. Curiosity-driven learning in adults with and without dyslexia. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:156-168. [PMID: 34293988 PMCID: PMC8600593 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211037474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
People are willing to spend time and money to receive information and
content they are curious about, such as answers to trivia questions,
suggesting they find information rewarding. In neurotypical adults,
states of high curiosity satisfaction are also known to enhance the
learning and memory of information encountered in that state. Here, we
investigated whether the relationship between curiosity, satisfaction,
and learning was altered in a group with specific learning difficulty
(dyslexia). Using a willingness-to-wait paradigm, we observed that
adults with and without dyslexia are willing to spend time waiting for
verbal and visual information. This indicates that the same “wanting”
mechanisms are seen in individuals with dyslexia for information. We
then examined whether information that was desirable was also
associated with enhanced memory. Our findings indicate that
information does function like a reward, with the gap between expected
and received information driving memory. However, this memory effect
was attenuated in individuals with dyslexia. These findings point to
the need to understand how reward drives learning and why this
relationship might differ in dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bethany Garvin
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Surrey, UK
| | - Saloni Krishnan
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Surrey, UK
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12
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How Are Curiosity and Interest Different? Naïve Bayes Classification of People’s Beliefs. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10648-021-09622-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
AbstractResearchers studying curiosity and interest note a lack of consensus in whether and how these important motivations for learning are distinct. Empirical attempts to distinguish them are impeded by this lack of conceptual clarity. Following a recent proposal that curiosity and interest are folk concepts, we sought to determine a non-expert consensus view on their distinction using machine learning methods. In Study 1, we demonstrate that there is a consensus in how they are distinguished, by training a Naïve Bayes classification algorithm to distinguish between free-text definitions of curiosity and interest (n = 396 definitions) and using cross-validation to test the classifier on two sets of data (main n = 196; additional n = 218). In Study 2, we demonstrate that the non-expert consensus is shared by experts and can plausibly underscore future empirical work, as the classifier accurately distinguished definitions provided by experts who study curiosity and interest (n = 92). Our results suggest a shared consensus on the distinction between curiosity and interest, providing a basis for much-needed conceptual clarity facilitating future empirical work. This consensus distinguishes curiosity as more active information seeking directed towards specific and previously unknown information. In contrast, interest is more pleasurable, in-depth, less momentary information seeking towards information in domains where people already have knowledge. However, we note that there are similarities between the concepts, as they are both motivating, involve feelings of wanting, and relate to knowledge acquisition.
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Van de Cruys S, Damiano C, Boddez Y, Król M, Goetschalckx L, Wagemans J. Visual affects: Linking curiosity, Aha-Erlebnis, and memory through information gain. Cognition 2021; 212:104698. [PMID: 33798948 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Current theories propose that our sense of curiosity is determined by the learning progress or information gain that our cognitive system expects to make. However, few studies have explicitly tried to quantify subjective information gain and link it to measures of curiosity. Here, we asked people to report their curiosity about the intrinsically engaging perceptual 'puzzles' known as Mooney images, and to report on the strength of their aha experience upon revealing the solution image (curiosity relief). We also asked our participants (279) to make a guess concerning the solution of the image, and used the distribution of these guesses to compute the crowdsourced semantic entropy (or ambiguity) of the images, as a measure of the potential for information gain. Our results confirm that curiosity and, even more so, aha experience is substantially associated with this semantic information gain measure. These findings support the expected information gain theory of curiosity and suggest that the aha experience or intrinsic reward is driven by the actual information gain. In an unannounced memory part, we also established that the often reported influence of curiosity on memory is fully mediated by the aha experience or curiosity relief. We discuss the implications of our results for the burgeoning fields of curiosity and psychoaesthetics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yannick Boddez
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium; Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Magdalena Król
- Institute of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland
| | | | - Johan Wagemans
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium
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Abstract
This article attempts to delineate the procedural and mechanistic characteristics of predicting as a learning strategy. While asking students to generate a prediction before presenting the correct answer has long been a popular learning strategy, the exact mechanisms by which it improves learning are only beginning to be unraveled. Moreover, predicting shares many features with other retrieval-based learning strategies (e.g., practice testing, pretesting, guessing), which begs the question of whether there is more to it than getting students to engage in active retrieval. I argue that active retrieval as such does not suffice to explain beneficial effects of predicting. Rather, the effectiveness of predicting is also linked to changes in the way the ensuing feedback is processed. Initial evidence suggests that predicting boosts surprise about unexpected answers, which leads to enhanced attention to the correct answer and strengthens its encoding. I propose that it is this affective aspect of predicting that sets it apart from other retrieval-based learning strategies, particularly from guessing. Predicting should thus be considered as a learning strategy in its own right. Studying its unique effects on student learning promises to bring together research on formal models of learning from prediction error, epistemic emotions, and instructional design.
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16
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Gross ME, Zedelius CM, Schooler JW. Cultivating an understanding of curiosity as a seed for creativity. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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17
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Fandakova Y, Gruber MJ. States of curiosity and interest enhance memory differently in adolescents and in children. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13005. [PMID: 32524703 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Curiosity - broadly defined as the desire to acquire new information - enhances learning and memory in adults. In addition, interest in the information (i.e., when the information is processed) can also facilitate later memory. To date, it is not known how states of pre-information curiosity and post-information interest enhance memory in childhood and adolescence. We used a trivia paradigm in which children and adolescents (N = 60, 10-14 years) encoded trivia questions and answers associated with high or low curiosity. States of high pre-answer curiosity enhanced later memory for trivia answers in both children and adolescents. However, higher positive post-answer interest enhanced memory for trivia answers beyond the effects of curiosity more strongly in adolescents than in children. These results suggest that curiosity and interest have positive effects on learning and memory in childhood and adolescence, but might need to be harnessed in differential ways across child development to optimize learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yana Fandakova
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthias J Gruber
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
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Breitwieser J, Brod G. Cognitive Prerequisites for Generative Learning: Why Some Learning Strategies Are More Effective Than Others. Child Dev 2020; 92:258-272. [PMID: 32677082 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This study examined age-related differences in the effectiveness of two generative learning strategies (GLSs). Twenty-five children aged 9-11 and 25 university students aged 17-29 performed a facts learning task in which they had to generate either a prediction or an example before seeing the correct result. We found a significant Age × Learning Strategy interaction, with children remembering more facts after generating predictions rather than examples, whereas both strategies were similarly effective in adults. Pupillary data indicated that predictions stimulated surprise, whereas the effectiveness of example-based learning correlated with children's analogical reasoning abilities. These findings suggest that there are different cognitive prerequisites for different GLSs, which results in varying degrees of strategy effectiveness by age.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Garvin Brod
- DIPF, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education.,Goethe University Frankfurt
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Brod G, Breitwieser J, Hasselhorn M, Bunge SA. Being proven wrong elicits learning in children – but only in those with higher executive function skills. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12916. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.12916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Garvin Brod
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA) Frankfurt Germany
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education Frankfurt Germany
- Department of Psychology Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
| | - Jasmin Breitwieser
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA) Frankfurt Germany
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education Frankfurt Germany
| | - Marcus Hasselhorn
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA) Frankfurt Germany
- DIPF
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education Frankfurt Germany
- Department of Psychology Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
| | - Silvia A. Bunge
- Department of Psychology & Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA USA
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