Surprised-curious-confused: Epistemic emotions and knowledge exploration

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Affective Science

Background:

• Epistemic emotions (surprise, curiosity, confusion) are crucial for learning but understudied compared to achievement emotions.
• The interrelations, antecedents, and outcomes of epistemic emotions, particularly their distinction from achievement emotions, remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the within-person interrelations, antecedents, and effects of surprise, curiosity, and confusion.
• To differentiate epistemic emotions from achievement emotions (pride, shame) in the context of learning.

Main Methods:

• Conducted three studies (N=102, 373, 125) using a trivia task with immediate feedback.
• Employed multilevel modeling to analyze within- and between-person variance.
• Included achievement emotions (pride, shame) in Studies 2 and 3.

Main Results:

• Achievement emotions correlated with response accuracy, while epistemic emotions were linked to high-confidence errors.
• Epistemic emotions, especially surprise and curiosity, positively predicted subsequent knowledge exploration.
• Confusion showed inconsistent effects on exploration, suggesting a need for further investigation.

Conclusions:

• Epistemic emotions have distinct origins and outcomes compared to achievement emotions, particularly in driving exploration.
• Surprise and curiosity are reliable predictors of knowledge exploration, while confusion's role requires more research.
• Findings illuminate the unique contribution of epistemic emotions to learning and knowledge generation.