Article Synopsis
- Curiosity improves memory not just for the main information (like trivia answers) but also for unrelated details (like face images) presented during that curiosity phase.
- A study involving older and younger adults showed that both groups remembered trivia answers and incidental faces better when they were in a state of high curiosity compared to low curiosity.
- The emotional tone of the incidental images (positive, negative, or neutral) did not impact memory performance, indicating that the boost in memory is driven by curiosity itself rather than the nature of the information.
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Article Abstract
Curiosity benefits memory for target information and may also benefit memory for incidental information presented during curiosity states. However, it is not known whether incidental curiosity-enhanced memory depends on or is affected by the valence of the incidental information during curiosity states. Here, older and younger participants incidentally encoded unrelated face images (positive, negative, and neutral) while they anticipated answers to trivia questions. We found memory enhancements for answers to trivia questions and unrelated faces presented during high-curiosity compared with low-curiosity states in both younger and older adults. Interestingly, face valence did not modify memory for unrelated faces. This suggests processes associated with the elicitation of curiosity enhance memory for incidental information instead of valence.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9313209 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12070846 | DOI Listing |
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