Taylor, Ryan Curious About What You Know? Curiosity and Prior Knowledge’s Effects on Learning. 2022. Radford University, Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
Curiosity, the drive to learn what is unknown, is strongly associated with increases in learning. However, the mechanisms that drive this relationship are unclear, as most prior work has focused on natural variations of curiosity rather than experimentally manipulating it. Prior work has shown evidence that when curiosity is directly manipulated, an increase in learning is not present, which suggests a potential third variable may be driving the effect (Arnold et al., 2018). We aimed to determine if there is a causal relationship between curiosity and learning and what role, if any, prior knowledge may play in this relationship. I expected to find a causal relationship such that presenting the material in a way that enhanced curiosity would lead to an increase in learning but only when participants had sufficient prior knowledge. That is, I expected prior knowledge to modify the relationship between curiosity and learning with a difference between high and low curiosity conditions found only when participants had a certain level of prior knowledge in the relevant domain. Participants first completed a prior knowledge test across two domains of information, NFL football and cooking. Next, they were presented with false “pseudofacts” in the form of trivia questions (high curiosity) or statements (low curiosity) to learn. Lastly, they were given a final test on the pseudofacts. Prior knowledge increased learning for items within the same domain, but not for the opposite domain. Curiosity increased learning in the cooking domain, but not the NFL domain. However, no interaction was detected.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jul 2022 13:51 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Apr 2023 18:34 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/845 |
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