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    21 views24 pages

    PsychofCuriosity PDF

    Uploaded by

    Lawrence Stephen Troy Fangonilo

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    me cme tye Arn Poca in The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation George Loewenstein Research op curiosity has undergone 2 waves of intense activi. The Ist, inthe 1960s, focused ‘mainly on curosiy' peychologcal underpinnings. The 2nd inthe 1970sand 1980s, was character» {fed by attempts to measure curiosity and aces its dimensionality This article reviews thezecontri- tations with concentration onthe 1st wave. It is argued that theoretical accounts of curiosity proposed during the Ist period fell short in? areas: They didnot offer an adequate explanation fot ‘hy people velntarily ck out curiosity, and they fled to delineate situational determinants of Curiosity Furthermore, these accounts did not draw attention to, and ths did not explain, certain ‘alient characterises of curiosity its intensity, transience, asociaton with impulsivity, and ten- ‘Gency to disippeint when satisfied. A new account of eurisity is offered that atemprs to address these shortcomings. The new account interprets curiosity as form of cognitively induced depriva- tion that arses from the perception of gap in knowledge or understanding, Curiosity is the most supericial of al the affections: it changes its ‘Objet perpetually it hasan sppette whichis ery sharp, but very failsafe: and it has alvays an appearance of pidiness, rex fessnes and anxiety. (Edmund Burke, 1757/1938, p31) ‘Curiosity has been consistently recognized as a critical mo- tive that influences human behavior in both positive and nega~ tive ways at al stages ofthe life cycle. It has been identified as a driving force in child development (e-., Stern, 1973, p. 33; ‘Wohlwill, (987) and as one ofthe most important spurs to edu- cational attainment (Day, 1982). The pedagogical literature en- ‘courages teachers to stimulate curiosity (eg, McNay, 1985), ‘provides practical guidelines for doing so(e-, Tomkins & Tway, 1985; Vidler, 1974), and decries the educational system's ten- dency to quell it (Torrance, 1965). Curiosity has also been cited ‘asa major impetus behind scientific discovery, possibly elips- ing even the drive for economic gain (cg. see Koester, 1973; ‘Simon, 1992). Furthermore, curiosity is seen as a significant response evoked by literature and art (H. Kreitler & Kreitler, 1972) arid has recently been exploited inthe commercial realm. ‘Advertisers bave begun to harness the power of curiosity in “mystery” ads that reveal the identity ofthe product only atthe tend of the advertisement (King, 1991)." Less happily, curiosity isassociated with behavior disorders such as voyeurism and has been blamed for nonsanctioned behaviors such as drug and al- ccohol use (Green, 1990), early sexual experimentation (Cullari ‘& Mikus, 1990), and certain types of crime such a5 arson (Kolko & Kazdin, 1989). ‘Yet our fascination with curiosity does not derive from its 1 thank Baruch Fischhof, Colin Camere, Linda Babcock, Donna Harsch, Sophie Freud, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Goodkin, Dan Ad- ler, Jodi Gils, and Dean Behrens for helpful comments and sugges. tions three anonymous referees for highly constructive comments and Sil Shapiro for editorial advice. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed 10 (George Loenenstein, Deparimen of Social and Decision Sciences, Col lege of Humanities and Social Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pinsburgh, Pennsyvania 15213-3890. 6 ‘practical significance alone. Curiosity poses an anomaly for ra- ‘onal-choice analyses of behavior that assume that the value of information stems solely from its ability to promote goals more basic than the satisfaction of curiosity. Such analyses assume that “the utility of information to the ageots . . . is indirect and not direct like the utility derived from consuming goods” (Laffont, 1989, p. 54), However, there is considerable research documenting situations in which people demand more infor- mation than would be predicted by “value of information anal- ‘yses"——as if they value the information for its own sake. For example, managers “systematically gather more information than they use, yetcontinive to ask for more” (Feldman & March, 1981, p. 171), Patients want more information about their med> ‘cal conditions than they typically receive but do not want more control over decisions (Strul, Lo, & Charles, 1984). Asch, Pat ton, and Hershey (1990) described thisasa paradox because the decision-theoretic view is that patients should only want to know something if it belps them to make a more informed de- cision. The theoretical puzzle posed by curiosity is why people fare so strongly attracted to information that, by the definition ‘of curiosity, confers no extrinsic benefit. ‘This combination of practical importance and theoretical puzzle has stimulated psychologists’ interest in various aspects of curiosity. Rather than producing an ever growing mountain of research, however, the interest in curiosity has surged in two major “waves,” divided from each other not only by an in- tervening trough of publications but by a focus on different is- “The fist wave, whith crested in the early 1960s, focused on three basic issues. Foremost was the question of curosity'sun- eriying cause. Psychologists representing diverse intellectual ‘perspectives speculated about the cause of curiosity and iovari- ably concluded that curiosity could be explained in terms of their own preexisting theoretical frameworks. Secondary, rlosity researchers pondered why people voluntarily seek out "Researchers have found that such advertisements produce greater sutvequent brand ecopstion than matched noamystery ads that revel the products identity from the star (Fazio, Hers & Powell, 1992). 16 GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN situations that they know will induce curiosity, such as myster- ies and puzzles. Curiosity seeking posed a paradox for those carly theorists who interpreted curiosity as a drive, because

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