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Educ Psychol Rev (2016) 28:2360
DOI 10.1007/s10648-014-9294-y
REVIEW ARTICLE
Emily M. Grossnickle
Published online: 28 December 2014# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract Curiosity has received increasing attention in the educational literature, yet empirical investigations have been limited by inconsistent conceptualizations and the use of curiosity synonymously with other constructs, particularly interest. The purpose of this review is to critically examine the dimensionality, definitions, and measures of curiosity within educational settings, and address the boundaries between curiosity and interest. A systematic review of 39 articles from 2003 to 2013 revealed a reliance on self-report measures, a focus on curiosity as a personality trait, and definitions characterized by four themes, the most common of which were curiosity as a need for knowledge or information, and curiosity as a motivator of exploratory behavior. The overlap and relations between curiosity and interest are discussed, and it is proposed that an examination of (a) the role of knowledge, (b) goals and outcomes, and (c) stability and malleability provide a basis for differentiating curiosity and interest according to their essential characteristics.
Keywords Curiosity. Interest . Motivation
Individuals who make advancements, be it in science, history, or art, are not satisfied to learn solely what is already considered knowledge within a field. Rather, they move understanding forward as their own need for knowledge leads their research and explorations into new and uncharted directions (Kashdan 2004). It is this need for knowledge and exploration of the unknown that most conceptions of curiosity hold in common (Loewenstein 1994), and it is proposed that curiosity is a force behind research and academic explorations that require countless hours to gain results (Bowler 2010).
Within educational contexts, curiosity is regarded as a means to increase and support the outcomes and processes of learning (Arnone and Grabowsky 1994; Berlyne 1954; Spielberger and Starr 1994). Curiosity has been found to enhance memory for new information (Kang et al. 2009) and has been linked to higher academic performance on standardized tests (Wavo 2004). For students, curiosity has been positively associated with question asking (Peters
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9294-y
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E. M. Grossnickle (*)
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology,...