WiseTip: AL-CUR-M0003-G01A

Approaches to Learning

Promoting Curiosity

Create some variety in your baby's immediate environment. For example, change the decor and toys from time to time, offer a new bath toy and use a different scented bath soap at bath time.

WHY IT MATTERS

Providing novelty through new stimulus and experiences sustains a child’s curiosity.

Wittmann, B. C., Daw, N. D., Seymour, B., & Dolan, R. J. (2008). Striatal activity underlies novelty-based choice in humans. Neuron, 58(6), 967– 973.

Infants show a novelty preference where new items are preferred to familiar ones. As the infant becomes familiar with an item, the item loses its novelty. This is known as habituation. During habituation, should a new stimulus be introduced, the infant will abandon the familiar item for the new one. Thus, novelty and curiosity are linked, where increases in novelty generally elicit increases in attention. While too much novelty can lead to reduced attention,

Kidd C., & Hayden B.Y. (2015). The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity. Neuron, 88, 449–460.

children generally sustain curiosity when there are new things to explore compared to things that are familiar.

Twomey, K. & Westermann, G. (2017). Curiosity-based learning in infants: A neurocomputational approach. Developmental Science. 21. 10.1111/desc.12629.