Curiosity in younger and older adults: The relationship between information value and memory

Abstract

Curiosity is a fundamental drive experienced throughout the lifespan. Beyond its health benefits, curiosity is associated with enhanced memory: Greater curiosity about information predicts improved recall in both younger and older adults. Recent work indicates that not only curiosity but also satisfaction with information and information prediction errors (IPEs)—the discrepancy between curiosity and satisfaction—can influence memory. However, less is known about how aging influences these affective variables. In this study, younger and older adults viewed trivia questions and rated their curiosity to learn the answers and their confidence in their knowledge of the answer. After the answer was shown, participants rated how satisfying they found it. No age differences were observed: Across both age groups, confidence, satisfaction, and IPEs similarly predicted recall memory. In contrast, curiosity did not predict better recall memory in either age group, suggesting that satisfaction with information and IPEs play a more central role in learning trivia answers. Overall, these findings show that pre-and post-information evaluations work cooperatively and independently to support memory across the lifespan.