Text 1

Many studies in psychology have shown that people seek out information even when they know in advance that they have no immediate use for it and that they won't directly benefit from it. Such findings support the consensus view among researchers of curiosity: namely, that curiosity is not instrumental but instead represents a drive to acquire information for its own sake.

Text 2

While acknowledging that acquiring information is a powerful motivator, Rachit Dubey and colleagues ran an experiment to test whether emphasizing the usefulness of scientific information could increase curiosity about it. They found that when research involving rats and fruit flies was presented as having medical applications for humans, participants expressed greater interest in learning about it than when the research was not presented as useful.

Based on the texts, how would Dubey and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the consensus view discussed in Text 1?

Question

Accepted Answer

By suggesting that curiosity may not be exclusively motivated by the desire to merely acquire information

Answer

By conceding that people may seek out information that serves no immediate purpose only because they think they can use it later

Answer

By pointing out that it is challenging to determine when information-seeking serves no goal beyond acquiring information

Answer

By disputing the idea that curiosity can help explain apparently purposeless information-seeking behaviors