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  • Review Article
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Curiosity in children across ages and contexts

Nature Reviews Psychology volume 3, pages 622–635 (2024)Cite this article

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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.

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Fig. 1: Overlap between curiosity and related constructs.
Fig. 2: Methods and measures used in studies of children’s curiosity.
Fig. 3: Curiosity in a network of knowledge.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. Vitiello for helpful feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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  1. School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Jamie J. Jirout & Natalie S. Evans

  2. Psychology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, USA

    Lisa K. Son

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Jirout, J.J., Evans, N.S. & Son, L.K. Curiosity in children across ages and contexts. Nat Rev Psychol 3, 622–635 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00346-5

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