Reducing the Illusion of Knowing: Testing the Effects of Certainty on Curiosity and Exploratory Behavior (Poster 28)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 1:30 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Patterns, Networks, Trajectories, and More! Exploring Individual Beliefs and Diverse Correlates

Abstract

Through two Experiments, we tested and replicated the relationship between feeling of knowing and curiosity as postulated by the information gap theory (Loewenstein, 1994) to contribute scant experimental evidence. Experiment 2 additionally investigated the link between curiosity and exploratory behavior, with usefulness of the information as a moderator — an association observed in previous studies but without considering moderators. In within-subject experiments, undergraduate students answered true-or-false questions and reported their certainty (feeling of knowing) and curiosity about the answers before and after the certainty manipulation. Path analyses revealed that participants 1) became less certain and more curious about the answers after receiving the certainty-reducing hints, and 2) were more likely to seek further information when they perceived the answers as useful.

Authors

• Yoonah Park, bMRI/Korea University

• Sung-il Kim, Korea University

• Mimi Bong, Korea University