COGNITIVE ORIENTATION AND CURIOSITY

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Abstract
The study focused on the role of cognitive contents as antecedents of curiosity. Following the theory of cognitive orientation and a previous factor‐analytic study of curiosity behaviours, the hypothesis was that a measure of cognitive contents reflecting four belief types would predict curiosity behaviours. The subjects were 84 U.S. first‐grade boys and girls. They were administered five tasks which yielded 20 measures of curiosity behaviours and a questionnaire of the cognitive orientation of curiosity which enabled assessment of the four belief types. The results showed that a measure reflecting all belief types predicted curiosity behaviours on 14 of the 20 original measures, the unpredicted measures being mostly unrelated to curiosity. Implications for the cognitive orientation theory and for curiosity training are discussed.

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