Probing Perceptual Uncertainty to Examine the Relationship between Curiosity and Confidence

Curiosity—the intrinsic desire to know, or the motivation to seek out information or novelty—is pervasive in our lives. From looking up the meaning of a new word to experiencing the urge to investigate unfamiliar sounds, curiosity drives our learning and exploration of the world, serving as a powerful motivator in reducing uncertainty. Importantly, traditional frameworks suggest there exist different subtypes of curiosity (Berlyne, 1954). Perceptual curiosity is regarded as a fundamental drive for information about sensory stimuli, often triggered by stimuli that are ambiguous or novel. In contrast, epistemic curiosity refers to the desire to acquire new knowledge or information and is linked to the pursuit of understanding complex concepts and fostering intellectual growth. Despite its significant role in driving behavior, the neural mechanisms underlying curiosity remain largely unknown, raising important questions about the factors which contribute to its generation and resolution. One prominent account of curiosity suggests that it arises from uncertainty generated by the incongruity between what one knows and what one wants to know, motivating individuals to close this gap (Loewenstein, 1994). This drive to reduce uncertainty serves as a powerful motivator for information-seeking and exploration, as evidenced by its presence across species. For example, the tendency to seek information even when it has no immediate practical use—driven in part by the desire to reduce uncertainty—has been observed in both humans and nonhuman animals, such as rats (Ajuwon et al., 2023). Additionally, subjective uncertainty, or confidence, is thought to affect curiosity. Studies on epistemic curiosity in humans have investigated the relationship between confidence and curiosity by asking participants to rate their curiosity about the answers to trivia questions (Kang et al., 2009). Across these studies, an inverted U-shaped function of confidence was observed, such that curiosity peaked at intermediate levels of confidence. This suggests that the trivia … Correspondence should be addressed to Jocelyn Halim at jocelyn.halim{at}monash.edu.