Individual differences in information demand have a low dimensional structure predicted by some curiosity traits

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jach, Hayley K.; Cools, Roshan; Frisvold, Alex; Grubb, Michael A.; Hartley, Catherine A.; Hartmann, Jochen; Hunter, Laura; Jia, Ruonan; de Lange, Floris P.; Larisch, Ruby; Hill, Rosa Lavelle-; Levy, Ifat; Li, Yutong; van Lieshout, Lieke L. F.; Nussenbaum, Kate; Ravaioli, Silvio; Wang, Siyu; Wilson, Robert; Woodford, Michael; Murayama, Kou; Gottlieb, Jacqueline
• 署名单位: Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen; University of Melbourne; Radboud University Nijmegen; Radboud University Nijmegen; University of Arizona; Trinity College; New York University; Columbia University; Yale University; Yale University; University of Copenhagen; University of Copenhagen; Yale University; Yale University; Yale University; Princeton University; Columbia University; Cornerstone Research
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10424
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415236121
• 发表日期: 2024-11-05
• 关键词: epistemic curiosity; personality; RISK; BEHAVIOR; PSYCHOLOGY; experience; seeking; scale

摘要

To understand human learning and progress, it is crucial to understand curiosity. But how consistent is curiosity's conception and assessment across scientific research disciplines? We present the results of a large collaborative project assessing the correspondence between curiosity measures in personality psychology and cognitive science. A total of 820 participants completed 15 personality trait measures and 9 cognitive tasks that tested multiple aspects of information demand. We show that shared variance across the cognitive tasks was captured by a dimension reflecting directed (uncertainty- driven) versus random (stochasticity- driven) exploration and individual differences along this axis were significantly and consistently predicted by personality traits. However, the personality metrics that best predicted information demand were not the central curiosity traits of openness to experience, deprivation sensitivity, and joyous exploration, but instead included more peripheral curiosity traits (need for cognition, thrill seeking, and stress tolerance) and measures not traditionally associated with curiosity (extraversion and behavioral inhibition). The results suggest that the umbrella term curiosity reflects a constellation of cognitive and emotional processes, only some of which are shared between personality measures and cognitive tasks. The results reflect the distinct methods that are used in these fields, indicating a need for caution in comparing results across fields and for future interdisciplinary collaborations to strengthen our emerging understanding of curiosity.