What is it about?
We are naturally curious creatures, but what makes us more or less curious from one moment to the next? Two competing theories make opposite predictions: one says that getting a satisfying answer quenches curiosity, leaving you less hungry for more; the other says it does the opposite, firing up curiosity for related topics. This study, involving nearly 6,000 participants, puts both theories to the test and finds that curiosity reinforces itself: getting a satisfying answer makes you more curious about related topics, not less. Crucially, this effect is specific: learning something interesting about animals, for example, sparks more curiosity about animals but not about unrelated subjects. These findings highlight the similarities between curiosity and other behaviors we learn from experience.
Featured Image
Photo by Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This is the first study to directly test whether curiosity is learned from experience rather than being a fixed inner drive. This shifts how we think about curiosity: rather than treating it as something people either have or lack, our findings suggest that the right learning experiences can actively cultivate it. This has practical consequences for how we design education, science communication, and media to spark and sustain public interest.
Perspectives
What I find most satisfying about this work is that we tackled a longstanding question about human nature using remarkably simple methods, by just asking people whether they wanted to wait a few seconds for an answer. Curiosity is often written off as excessive or even irrational, a tendency to seek out information that serves no obvious purpose. But when you actually probe it carefully, a different picture emerges: curiosity turns out to be surprisingly sophisticated and adaptive, closely tracking what people find meaningful and aligning with their individual goals and interests. That, to me, is what made this project so enjoyable to work on.
Yaniv Abir
University College London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Learning reinforces curiosity for related information, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2529176123.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
