Curiosity in children across ages and contexts

Abstract

Curiosity is a universal characteristic of childhood that can motivate and direct attention during information-seeking to support knowledge development. Understanding the development of curiosity could inform practical applications to support children’s curiosity and learning across contexts, such as fostering curiosity-supportive environments at home and in schools. In this Review, we focus on the state component of curiosity, defined as information-seeking behaviour that is internally motivated in response to a specific question or gap in knowledge. We synthesize research on children’s curiosity, considering the distinction between internal and external curiosity and variation in curiosity across ages and contexts. On the basis of this research, we suggest several areas for future research. Children’s curiosity helps motivate and direct their learning and is associated with positive outcomes. In this Review, Jirout et al. synthesize research on the development of curiosity and how it is expressed across different physical, social, socio-economic and cultural contexts.