Measures and References: References: Curiosity

Return to References: Curiosity factor page.

Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Connect the Dots Task: (Jansen, et al., 2021): A novel approach to the assessment of Curiosity.

Values in Action Inventory for Youth: (Park & Peterson, 2006): Self-report questionnaire for ages 10 to 17 that measures 24 character strengths. The Curiosity sub-scale includes eight items and includes statements such as “I am always curious about people, places, or things I don't know about” and “I don't have many questions about things.”

References

Abdelghani, R., Oudeyer, P. Y., Law, E., de Vulpillières, C., & Sauzéon, H. (2022). Conversational agents for fostering curiosity-driven learning in children. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 167, 102887.

Amorim Neto, R. D. C., Golz, N., Polega, M., & Stewart, D. (2022). The impact of curiosity on teacher–student relationships. Journal of education, 202(1), 15-25.

Aslan, S., Fastrich, G., Donnellan, E., Jones, D. J. W., & Murayama, K. (2021). People's naïve belief about curiosity and interest: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE, 16.

Bethell, C. D., Gombojav, N., & Whitaker, R. C. (2019). Family resilience and connection promote flourishing among US children, even amid adversity. Health Affairs, 38(5), 729-737.

Butler‐Barnes, S. T., Leath, S., Williams, A., Byrd, C., Carter, R., & Chavous, T. M. (2018). Promoting resilience among African American girls: Racial identity as a protective factor. Child Development, 89(6), e552-e571.

Callanan, M., Solis, G., Castañeda, C., & Jipson, J. (2020). Children's Question-Asking across Cultural Communities. In L. P. Butler, S. Ronfard, & K. H. Corriveau (Eds.), The Questioning Child (1st ed., pp. 73–88). Cambridge University Press.

Callanan, M. A., Castañeda, C. L., Luce, M. R., & Martin, J. L. (2017). Family Science Talk in Museums: Predicting Children's Engagement From Variations in Talk and Activity. Child Development, 88(5), 1492–1504.

Clark, S., Harbaugh, A. G., & Seider, S. (2021). Teaching questioning fosters adolescent curiosity: Analyzing impact through multiple-group structural equation modeling. Applied Developmental Science, 25(3), 240-259.

Cook, C., Goodman, N. D., & Schulz, L. E. (2011). Where science starts: Spontaneous experiments in preschoolers' exploratory play. Cognition, 120(3), 341-349.

Engel, S. (2011). Children's Need to Know: Curiosity in Schools. Harvard Educational Review, 81(4), 625–645.

Fandakova, Y., & Gruber, M. (2019). Curiosity and surprise enhance memory differently in adolescents than in children. PsyARXiv.

Fandakova, Y., & Gruber, M. J. (2021). States of curiosity and interest enhance memory differently in adolescents and in children. Developmental Science, 24(1), e13005.

Gauvain, M., & Munroe, R. L. (2020). Children's Questions in Social and Cultural Perspective. In L. P. Butler, S. Ronfard, & K. H. Corriveau (Eds.), The Questioning Child (1st ed., pp. 183–211). Cambridge University Press.

Goldstein, E., Topitzes, J., Miller-Cribbs, J., & Brown, R. L. (2021). Influence of race/ethnicity and income on the link between adverse childhood experiences and child flourishing. Pediatric Research, 89(7), 1861-1869.

Gosso, Y. (2010). Play in different cultures. Children and Play, 80-98.

Gottfried, A. E., Preston, K. S. J., Gottfried, A. W., Oliver, P. H., Delany, D. E., & Ibrahim, S. M. (2016). Pathways from parental stimulation of children's curiosity to high school science course accomplishments and science career interest and skill. International Journal of Science Education, 38(12), 1972-1995.

Goupil, L., & Proust, J. (2023). Curiosity as a metacognitive feeling. Cognition, 231, 105325.

Grossmann, K. E., Grossmann, K., & Zimmermann, P. (1999). A wider view of attachment and exploration. Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, 2.

Grossnickle, E. M. (2016). Disentangling Curiosity: Dimensionality, Definitions, and Distinctions from Interest in Educational Contexts. In Educational Psychology Review (Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp. 23–60). Springer New York LLC.

Hopfenbeck, T. N., Denton-Calabrese, T., Johnston, S.-K., Scott-Barrett, J., & Mcgrane, J. A. (2022). Facilitating Curiosity and Creativity in the Classroom An International Multisite Video Study.

Jirout, J., & Klahr, D. (2012). Children's scientific curiosity: In search of an operational definition of an elusive concept. In Developmental Review 32(125–160).

Jirout, J., & Klahr, D. (2020). Questions–and some answers–about young children's questions. Journal of Cognition and Development, 21(5), 729-753.

Jirout, J. J., & Evans, N. (2023). Exploring to learn: Curiosity, breadth and depth of exploration, and recall in young children. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 45(45).

Jirout, J. J., & Matthews, S. E. (2022). Developing Intellectual Character: An Educational Perspective on How Uncertainty-Driven Curiosity Can Support Learning. Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development (253-268).

Jirout, J. J., Vitiello, V. E., & Zumbrunn, S. K. (2018). Curiosity in schools. The New Science of Curiosity, 1(1), 243-266.

Jirout, J. J. (2020). Supporting early scientific thinking through curiosity. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1717.

Kandasamy, V., Hirai, A. H., Ghandour, R. M., & Kogan, M. D. (2018). Parental perception of flourishing in school-aged children: 2011–2012 National Survey of Children's Health. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 39(6), 497-507.

Kashdan, T. B., Disabato, D. J., Goodman, F. R., & Naughton, C. (2018). The five dimensions of curiosity. Harvard Business Review, 96(5), 58-60.

Kidd, C., & Hayden, B. Y. (2015). The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity. Neuron, 88, Issue 3, (449–460).

Kwong, T. Y., & Hayes, D. K. (2017). Adverse family experiences and flourishing amongst children ages 6–17 years: 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health. Child abuse & neglect, 70, 240-246.

Lamnina, M., & Chase, C. C. (2019). Developing a thirst for knowledge: How uncertainty in the classroom influences curiosity, affect, learning, and transfer. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 101785.

Lamnina, M., & Chase, C. C. (2021). Uncertain instruction: effects on curiosity, learning, and transfer. Instructional Science, 49, 661-685.

Lewry, C., Gorucu, S., Liquin, E. G., & Lombrozo, T. (2023). Minimally counterintuitive stimuli trigger greater curiosity than merely improbable stimuli. Cognition, 230, 105286.

Liquin, E. G., & Lombrozo, T. (2020). Explanation-seeking curiosity in childhood. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 35, 14-20.

Marvin, C. B., Tedeschi, E., & Shohamy, D. (2020). Curiosity as the impulse to know: Common behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying curiosity and impulsivity. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 35, 92-98.

Neblett Jr, E. W., Philip, C. L., Cogburn, C. D., & Sellers, R. M. (2006). African American adolescents' discrimination experiences and academic achievement: Racial socialization as a cultural compensatory and protective factor. Journal of Black Psychology, 32(2), 199-218.

Nojavanasghari, B., Baltrusaitis, T., Hughes, C. E., & Morency, L. P. (2016). The Future Belongs to the Curious: Towards Automatic Understanding and Recognition of Curiosity in Children. WOCCI, 16-22.

Nussenbaum, K., Martin, R. E., Maulhardt, S., Yang, Y. J., Bizzell-Hatcher, G., Bhatt, N. S., & Hartley, C. A. (2023). Novelty and uncertainty differentially drive exploration across development. Elife, 12, e84260.

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(6), 891-909.

Peterson, E. G., & Cohen, J. (2019). A case for domain-specific curiosity in mathematics. Educational Psychology Review, 31, 807-832.

Post, T., & Walma van der Molen, J. H. (2018). Do children express curiosity at school? Exploring children's experiences of curiosity inside and outside the school context. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 18, 60–71.

Smalls, C., White, R., Chavous, T., & Sellers, R. (2007). Racial ideological beliefs and racial discrimination experiences as predictors of academic engagement among African American adolescents. Journal of Black Psychology, 33(3), 299-330.

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Van den Driessche, C., Chevrier, F., Cleeremans, A., & Sackur, J. (2019). Lower attentional skills predict increased exploratory foraging patterns. Scientific reports, 9(1), 10948.

van Schijndel, T. J., Jansen, B. R., & Raijmakers, M. E. (2018). Do individual differences in children's curiosity relate to their inquiry-based learning?. International Journal of Science Education, 40(9), 996-1015.

Way, N., & Nelson, J. D. (2018). The Listening Project: Fostering Connection And Curiosity In Middle School Classrooms The Crisis Of Connection: Roots, Consequences, And Solutions. 274-298.

Wu, P. H., Kuo, C. Y., Wu, H. K., Jen, T. H., & Hsu, Y. S. (2018). Learning benefits of secondary school students' inquiry‐related curiosity: A cross‐grade comparison of the relationships among learning experiences, curiosity, engagement, and inquiry abilities. Science Education, 102(5), 917-950.