Editing Curiosity (section)

== Causes ==
[[File:Curiosity..... what are they reading.jpg|thumb|Children peer over shoulders to see what their friends are reading.]]

Many species display curiosity including [[ape]]s, [[cat]]s, and [[rodent]]s.<ref name="pmid13252149"/> It is common in human beings at all ages from [[infancy]]<ref name="pmid10207585">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ofer G, Durban J | title = Curiosity: reflections on its nature and functions | journal = American Journal of Psychotherapy | volume = 53 | issue = 1 | pages = 35–51 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10207585 | doi = 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1999.53.1.35 | doi-access = free }}</ref> through [[adulthood]].<ref name="pmid13190171"/> Research has shown that curiosity is not a fixed attribute amongst humans but rather can be nurtured and developed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jirout |first=Jamie |date=7 April 2022 |title=Development and Testing of the Curiosity in Classrooms Framework and Coding Protocol |journal=Front. Psychol. |volume=13|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875161 |doi-access=free |pmid=35465531 |pmc=9022842 }}</ref>

Early definitions of curiosity call it a motivated desire for information.<ref name=":Loewenstein">{{cite journal | vauthors = Loewenstein G | year = 1994 | title = The psychology of curiosity: a review and reinterpretation | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 116 | issue = 1| pages = 75–98 | doi=10.1037/0033-2909.116.1.75| citeseerx = 10.1.1.320.1976 | s2cid = 11407582 }}</ref> This [[motivation]]al desire has been said to stem from a passion or an appetite for knowledge, information, and understanding.

Traditional ideas of curiosity have expanded to consider the difference between ''perceptual curiosity'', as the innate exploratory behavior that is present in all animals, and ''epistemic curiosity'', as the desire for knowledge that is specifically attributed to humans.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kidd C, Hayden BY | title = The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity | journal = Neuron | volume = 88 | issue = 3 | pages = 449–460 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 26539887 | pmc = 4635443 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.010 }}</ref>

[[Daniel Berlyne]]<ref name=":Berlyne">{{cite book| vauthors = Berlyne DE |title=Conflict, arousal, and curiosity|year=1960|location =New York, N.Y.|publisher=McGraw-Hill}}</ref> recognized three classes of variables playing a role in evoking curiosity: psychophysical variables, ecological variables, and collative variables. Psychophysical variables correspond to [[Intensity (physics)|physical intensity]], ecological variables to motivational significance and task relevance. Collative variables involve a comparison between different stimuli or features, which may be actually perceived or which may be recalled from memory. Berlyne mentioned four collative variables: [[novelty]], [[complexity]], [[uncertainty]], and conflict (though he suggested that all collative variables probably involve conflict). Additionally, he considered three variables supplementary to novelty: change, [[Surprise (emotion)|surprisingness]], and [[wikt:incongruity|incongruity]]. Finally, curiosity may not only be aroused by the perception of some stimulus associated with the aforementioned variables ("specific exploration"), but also by a lack of stimulation, out of "[[boredom]]" ("diversive exploration").<ref name=":Berlyne"/>