Specify the knowledge-acquisition component when using curiosity and interest terms, and prefer experience-sampling over one-shot self-report¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 2 studies (1 causal, 1 associational), q3 · 1 of 2 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that researchers either eliminate the terms curiosity and interest and specify which component of the knowledge-acquisition process is meant, or qualify the terms (e.g., "the rewarding experience of interest," "information-seeking behavior in curiosity") to avoid confusion. For measurement, it argues one-shot surveys cannot capture the recursive, moment-by-moment process and suggests experience sampling with within-person analysis, plus using the framework to guide item selection since factor analysis has limited use for revealing underlying processes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers need a shared specification of which aspect or component of the knowledge-acquisition process is being referred to when using the terms

Constraints¶

• Even experience sampling at most provides only some snapshots of the process

Target Learners¶

• educational psychology researchers
• students whose motivation is measured

Target Learning Goals¶

• accurate measurement of curiosity and interest constructs
• clear scientific communication

Affordances¶

• Reward Learning Framework Autonomous Knowledge Acquisition

Claims¶

• Participants' ratings of how similar curiosity and interest are did not predict classifier accuracy [+W]
• In the treatment condition, both epistemic curiosity and situational interest increased after problem presentation and decreased after the explanatory text [+W]
• In the control condition, no arousal or decrease of either measure occurred because prior knowledge eliminated the knowledge gap [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Research agenda: investigate affective dynamics with within-person, longitudinal, and multi-channel methods
• Test generalizability of curiosity and interest constructs across age groups and socio-cultural contexts

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Kou Murayama, Lily FitzGibbon & Michiko Sakaki. (2019). Process Account of Curiosity and Interest: A Reward-Learning Perspective. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09499-9