Curiosity and Exploratory Behavior

Tendencies to explore and investigate the environment are characteristic of the behavior of higher organisms; curiosity is generally regarded as the motivational determinant that energizes these exploratory behaviors. Both curiosity and exploration have been linked to a variety of related motivational constructs such as drives, motives, need for stimulus change, intrinsic motivation, etc. (Voss & Keller, 1983). Although many investigators have devoted their efforts to research on curiosity and exploratory behavior, the literature continues to be characterized by diverse theoretical views and contradictory empirical findings.