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Published on: February 18, 2013
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Learning reinforces curiosity for related information
Yaniv Abir1,2, Jane Mok3, Christopher A Baldassano1
1Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
Summary
Human curiosity strengthens with learning, especially when new information relates to prior knowledge. This suggests curiosity is a learned behavior, guiding what we seek to discover next.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Human curiosity drives exploration and learning, but the mechanisms behind its fluctuations are not fully understood.
- Two main hypotheses exist: optimal arousal theory (satisfaction reduces curiosity) and reinforcement learning (satisfaction strengthens curiosity).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how past learning influences subsequent curiosity and memory.
- To differentiate between the optimal arousal and reinforcement learning hypotheses of curiosity.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed information-seeking decisions from 5,831 participants.
- Examined the impact of engagement with questions/answers and information prediction errors on curiosity.
- Assessed how semantic similarity between learned and new content affects curiosity.
Main Results:
- Satisfying curiosity through learning increased subsequent curiosity, contrary to the optimal arousal theory.
- This effect was dependent on semantic similarity, indicating prior learning enhances curiosity for related information.
- Information prediction errors played a role in modulating curiosity.
Conclusions:
- Curiosity functions as a learned information-seeking policy, reinforced by learning experiences.
- Humans may actively learn what to be curious about, optimizing future information seeking.
- Findings support a reinforcement learning framework for understanding curiosity dynamics.
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