Kayoko Inagaki

Amplification of Cognitive Motivation and Its Effects on Epistemic Observation

By direct observation, 203 fourth-graders confirmed the conservation of combined weights of sugar and water as measured before and after dissolving. Prior to this confirmation, experimental group subjects were required to choose one of three alternatives of a conservation problem and were presented with a fictitious choice response distribution with conflicting reasons. Control group subjects were given only the multiple-choice problem. Experimental group subjects showed (a) stronger curiosity for confirmation by observation, (b) greater progress in generalizing the principle of weight conservation to a variety of situations, and (c) higher positive correlation between curiosity and amount of progress.

EFFECTS OF OBJECT CURIOSITY ON EXPLORATORY LEARNING IN YOUNG CHILDREN

To examine relationships between curiosity as an individual trait and the processes and products of exploratory learning, 51 kindergarten children of age six were given an object curiosity task and an exploratory learning task. The latter was designed to arouse much uncertainty or dissonance and to permit children to engage in further exploration without interference. Highly curious children, as defined by their object curiosity scores, acquired significantly more information through exploration than their low-curiosity counterparts, though they explored in only insignificantly more varied ways. This superiority of highly curious children in exploratory learning test performance remained even when the effect of verbal ability was held constant.