title: Thirst for knowledge: The effects of curiosity and interest on memory in younger and older adults.
abstract: Given age-related memory impairments, one's level of curiosity or interest could enhance memory for certain information. In the current study, younger and older adults read trivia questions, rated how curious they were to learn each answer, provided confidence and interest ratings, and judgments of learning after learning the answer. No age-related differences in memory were found. Analyses indicated that curiosity and interest contributed to the formation of judgments of learning. Additionally, interest had a unique increasing relationship with older, but not younger, adults' memory performance after a one-week delay. The results suggest that subjective interest may serve to enhance older adults' memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Weber State University.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGillivray
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Reading.
authors.forename: Kou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Alan D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Castel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult