Wouldn’t it be a dream if we could remember everything we read or were taught? New research from the USA suggests that natural curiosity is actually a more important determining factor in academic success and learning generally than just having a good memory. Although psychologists have discovered a great deal about learning as a result of external rewards (i.e. extrinsic motivation), much less is known about the role of intrinsic motivation and how this affects brain mechanisms involved in learning.
Gruber et al. (2014) used brain scanning techniques in studying students learning at the University of California. Students were asked to work through a series of trivia questions. The researchers then asked them to rate how confident they were that they knew the correct answer and also how curious they were to find out. Curiously (pun intended), not only did students with reported higher levels of curiosity do better when remembering answers to trivia questions, but also their memories improved for unrelated information that they were shown at the same time.
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