Curiosity as a Function of Confidence and Importance in Knowing Information

Abstract

Curiosity appears to be the driving force for humans to find new information, but despite its general relevance, only few studies investigated the underlying mechanisms of curiosity. Kang et al. (2009) reported that curiosity follows an inverted U-shaped function of confidence, with highest curiosity on moderate confidence levels of knowing information. In addition, they found that the willingness to spend resources to reveal information increased with increasing curiosity. Given that replications of findings on curiosity are rare, this study sought to replicate these previous findings in two experiments, with the same stimulus material (Experiment 1) and new stimulus material using COVID-19-related information (Experiment 2). In addition, we extended previous findings by assessing the effect of the importance of information for the participant on the relationship between curiosity and confidence. Our findings replicated previous results in both experiments with (a) highest curiosity regarding information about which participants were moderately confident in knowing and (b) the level of curiosity affecting the decision to spend more time to reveal the answer. We also found that importance ratings positively scaled the level of curiosity. However, importance also interacted with confidence, showing that low-to-moderate confidence ratings, combined with high importance ratings, led to highest curiosity in both experiments – associated with an increased willingness to close this information-gap. Together, these results emphasize the modulatory effect of perceived importance on the interplay between curiosity and confidence in knowing information.

Simulation, stories, and fictional worlds

“…The proposition is to bring together three theories of exploration and curiosity, by stating that exploration allows foraging new resources, important resources, and better ways to explore further (and discover new and important resources). This explains the curiosity for new things (i.e., novelty-based exploration; e.g., Litman, 2005;, the curiosity for important things (i.e., value-based exploration; Dubey, Griffiths, & Lombrozo, 2020;Spitzer & Kiesel, 2021;Stojic, Analytis, Schulz, & Speekenbrink, 2020), and the curiosity for complex, yet-to-understand things (i.e., systemizing, defined as the drive to explore a system; Baron-Cohen, 2003. We are currently launching an experimental study to test several predictions that our hypothesis makes, and we will include in the paradigm the Systemizing-Quotient questionnaire (Ling, Burton, Salt, & Muncer, 2009;Veale & Williams, 2017;Wakabayashi et al, 2006), to test Browning and Veit's prediction that people who systemize more are more attracted to imaginary worlds.…”