The nature of curiosity in children

The development of a gender-free curiosity inventory

“…Kreitler and Kreitler (1986) also used the term "motor manipulation" to describe that type of exploration whose aim is to provide information about how objects operate and about their tactile, thermal, and textual qualities. The Manipulatory Exploration factor may be gender-related because in all those variables which loaded highly on this factor boys were statistically significantly more curious than girls (Kreitler et al, 1975). There are also results from other investigations (e.g.…”

Children’s scientific curiosity: In search of an operational definition of an elusive concept

“…As with the previous section on questionnaire measures, our focus here is on the measures of curiosity, rather than on results that examine the relationship between curiosity and other variables. Kreitler, Zigler, and Kreitler (1975) used a factor-analysis approach to measure curiosity in first-grade students. They collected both questionnaire-style teacher ratings as well as several direct behavioral measures of different manifestations of curiosity.…”

“…Our general procedure, adapted from an exploration measure used by Kreitler, Zigler, & Kreitler (1975), is as follows. Children are presented with a series of items, each requiring them to choose one of two options to explore.…”

Early science education and astronomy

“…5). We like to designate the age between 5 and 12 the golden age of curiosity, even if the exact cognitive development and function of curiosity has not yet been well elucidated (Kreitler, Zigler and Kreitler 1975;Litman 2008 gather, analyze, and interpret data;proposing answers, explanations, and predictions;and communicating the results. National Research Council (1996) It thus appears an apparent contradiction between the eagerness of children for discovery and understanding on the one hand, and the poor vision of science by youngsters on the other.…”