Metacognition of curiosity: people underestimate the seductive lure of non-instrumental information

Kim, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1237-2154, Sakaki, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1993-5765 and Murayama, K. (2023) Metacognition of curiosity: people underestimate the seductive lure of non-instrumental information. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. ISSN 1531-5320 doi: 10.3758/s13423-023-02404-0

Abstract/Summary

Curiosity - the desire to seek information - is fundamental for learning and performance. Studies on curiosity have shown that people are intrinsically motivated to seek information even if it does not bring an immediate tangible benefit (i.e., non-instrumental information), but little is known as to whether people have the metacognitive capability to accurately monitor their motivation for seeking information. We examined whether people can accurately predict their own non-instrumental information-seeking behavior. Across six experiments (Experiments 1A-1E and 2, total N = 579), participants predicted that they would engage in information-seeking behavior less frequently than they actually did, suggesting that people tend to underestimate the motivational lure of curiosity. Overall, there was no consistent statistical evidence that this underestimation was altered by contextual factors (e.g., the cost to seek information). These results were consistent with the theoretical account that it is difficult for people to make sense of the internally rewarding value of information in advance.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/114072
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords	Information seeking, Affective forecasting, Metamotivation, Curiosity, Metacognition
Publisher	Psychonomic Society
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item