Browsing by Author "Wu, Haomin"

Objectives. Making decisions requires the ability to seek out and use reliable information. Curiosity, as an intrinsic desire to know, is believed to be an important motivation for information seeking. Curiosity is not only a personality trait that reflects the tendency to experience new but also a cognitive state that arises from the information gap. The reward learning framework, which underscores the rewarding value of information, provides a fresh theoretical perspective for understanding curiosity. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of curiosity in information-seeking process. Specifically, it aims to examine how curiosity influences information-seeking behaviour and eye movements, and to explore the relationship between trait and state curiosity within this context. Methods. The sample comprised 52 participants who took part in a laboratory experiment and an online survey. The experiment involved a reading-based decision-making task, in which participants were required to read health-related arguments from three categories: scientific relevant (SR), scientific irrelevant (SI), and non-scientific relevant (NR). Eye movements were recorded during reading, while state curiosity was self-reported after each argument. In the survey session, participants’ trait curiosity levels were measured using the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR). Data preparation and analysis was conducted using R software. Statistical analyses included Spearman’s correlation, as well as linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models. Results and conclusions. State curiosity was associated with total fixation duration, but the effects interacted with information quality. For high quality (SR) arguments, the total fixation duration was overall longer regardless of state curiosity levels, whereas for low quality (SI and NR) arguments, total fixation duration increased with higher levels of state curiosity. As for the effects of trait curiosity, overt social curiosity was associated with more persistent information-seeking style, while stress tolerance was related to a quicker and more decisive reader. In addition, thrill-seeking tendency exhibited a negative effect on state curiosity during health-related decision-making. Overall, this study provides new insights into the role of curiosity in information-seeking process, and indicates the importance of curiosity in supporting public evidence-based decision-making.