Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-16T06:23:45.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Breaking down (and moving beyond) novelty as a trigger of curiosity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2024

Emily G. Liquin*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA emilyliquin@gmail.com https://emilyliquin.com
Tania Lombrozo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA lombrozo@princeton.edu https://psych.princeton.edu/people/tania-lombrozo
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

The Novelty Seeking Model (NSM) places “novelty” at center stage in characterizing the mechanisms behind curiosity. We argue that the NSM's conception of novelty is too broad, obscuring distinct constructs. More critically, the NSM underemphasizes triggers of curiosity that better unify these constructs and that have received stronger empirical support: those that signal the potential for useful learning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barto, A., Mirolli, M., & Baldassarre, G. (2013). Novelty or surprise? Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 907. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00907CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubey, R., & Griffiths, T. L. (2020). Reconciling novelty and complexity through a rational analysis of curiosity. Psychological Review, 127(3), 455476. doi:10.1037/rev0000175CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubey, R., Griffiths, T. L., & Lombrozo, T. (2022). If it's important, then I'm curious: Increasing perceived usefulness stimulates curiosity. Cognition, 226, 105193. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105193CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liquin, E. G., Callaway, F., & Lombrozo, T. (2020). Quantifying curiosity: A formal approach to dissociating causes of curiosity. In Denison, S., Mack, M., Xu, Y., & Armstrong, B. C. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd annual conference of the cognitive science society (pp. 309315). Cognitive Science Society.Google Scholar
Liquin, E. G., Callaway, F., & Lombrozo, T. (2021). Developmental change in what elicits curiosity. In Fitch, T., Lamm, C., Leder, H., & Teßmar-Raible, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd annual conference of the cognitive science society (pp. 13601366). Cognitive Science Society.Google Scholar
Liquin, E. G., & Lombrozo, T. (2020). A functional approach to explanation-seeking curiosity. Cognitive Psychology, 119, 101276. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2020.101276CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lombrozo, T., & Liquin, E. G. (2023). Explanation is effective because it is selective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32(3), 212219. doi:10.1177/09637214231156106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, R., Maguire, P., & Keane, M. T. (2011). Making sense of surprise: An investigation of the factors influencing surprise judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(1), 176186. doi:10.1037/a0021609Google ScholarPubMed
Poli, F., Meyer, M., Mars, R. B., & Hunnius, S. (2022). Contributions of expected learning progress and perceptual novelty to curiosity-driven exploration. Cognition, 225, 105119. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105119CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poli, F., Serino, G., Mars, R. B., & Hunnius, S. (2020). Infants tailor their attention to maximize learning. Science Advances, 6(39), eabb5053. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abb5053CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ten, A., Kaushik, P., Oudeyer, P.-Y., & Gottlieb, J. (2021). Humans monitor learning progress in curiosity-driven exploration. Nature Communications, 12(1), 5972. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26196-wCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed