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Knowledge Gap Illustrations Spark Curiosity
Luisa Frede1, Lisa Bardach2, Younes Strittmatter3
1Department of Psychology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Journal of Cognition
|May 11, 2026
Summary
Making knowledge gaps visible boosts information seeking and learning. Explicitly showing people what they don't know encourages them to read more, leading to better knowledge acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Knowledge gaps drive curiosity and information seeking.
- Previous research inferred knowledge gaps indirectly using confidence ratings.
- The impact of explicitly highlighting knowledge gaps on information seeking is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how making knowledge gaps salient affects information-seeking behavior.
- To determine if explicit knowledge gap illustrations enhance knowledge acquisition.
- To explore the role of curiosity in information seeking.
Main Methods:
- Two preregistered experiments with 501 and 511 participants, respectively.
- Participants completed a knowledge test on elephant conservation, then chose to read or skip article chapters.
- The experimental group received pretest performance scores to highlight knowledge gaps; the control group did not.
Main Results:
- Illustrating moderate knowledge gaps significantly increased participants' likelihood of seeking information.
- In Experiment 2, explicit knowledge gap illustration led to greater posttest performance gains compared to the control group.
- Findings suggest a causal link between salient knowledge gaps and increased information seeking and learning.
Conclusions:
- Explicitly illustrating knowledge gaps is an effective strategy to stimulate curiosity and information seeking.
- This method can be leveraged to enhance knowledge acquisition in educational and other contexts.
- Future research can explore optimal methods for presenting knowledge gaps to maximize engagement and learning.
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