Curiosity (from Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōsus "careful, diligent, curious", akin to cura "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and animals.[2][3] Curiosity helps human development, from which derives the process of learning and desire to acquire knowledge and skill.[4]
The term curiosity can also denote the behavior, characteristic, or emotion of being curious, in regard to the desire to gain knowledge or information. Curiosity as a behavior and emotion is the driving force behind human development, such as progress in science, language, and industry.[5]
Curiosity can be considered to be an evolutionary adaptation based on an organism's ability to learn.[6] Certain curious animals (namely, corvids, octopuses, dolphins, elephants, rats, etc.) will pursue information in order to adapt to their surrounding and learn how things work.[7] This behavior is known as neophilia, the love of new things. For animals, a fear of the unknown or the new, neophobia, is much more common, especially later in life.[8]
Many species display curiosity including apes, cats, and rodents.[3] It is common to human beings at all ages from infancy[9] through adulthood.[2] Research has shown that curiosity is not a fixed attribute amongst humans but rather can be nurtured and developed.[10]
Early definitions of curiosity call it a motivated desire for information.[11] This motivational desire has been said to stem from a passion or an appetite for knowledge, information, and understanding.
Traditional ideas of curiosity have expanded to consider the difference between perceptual curiosity, as the innate exploratory behavior that is present in all animals, and epistemic curiosity, as the desire for knowledge that is specifically attributed to humans.[12]