Question Asking Practice Fosters Aspects of Curiosity in Young Children

• In Event: Curious About Curiosity? Unpacking Curiosity and Interest in Various Learning Settings

Abstract

Children who are more curious learn more in school. While certain methods can induce momentary curiosity, less is known about promoting curiosity-driven behaviors that are sustained across contexts. In a preregistered experiment, we tested a teaching intervention during eight one-on-one science lessons over two weeks that was designed to bolster curiosity and increase learning. 103 children (49 girls, ages 5-7) were randomly assigned to our test or control condition: children in the test condition were encouraged to ask questions; controls were instructed to “listen carefully”. Children trained to ask questions valued new science information significantly more than children in the listening condition. This suggests that practice with question-asking can boost some aspects of curiosity.

Authors

• Joseph Colantonio, Harvard University

• Anne Park, University of Pennsylvania

• Lourdes Delgado Reyes, University of Pennsylvania

• Sophie Sharp, University of Pennsylvania

• Andrew E. Koepp, University of Pennsylvania

• Elizabeth Bonawitz, Harvard University

• Allyson Mackey, University of Pennsylvania