Delimitation of state and trait curiosity in relation to state anxiety and performance on a learning task

Master of EducationThe present study aimed to test the validity of the state-trait curiosity distinction; to investigate the effect of manipulating state curiosity (via written instructional sets) upon subsequent learning; and to assess further the reliability and validity of the state (C-State) and trait (C-Trait) curiosity scales. Subjects comprised 300 senior secondary school students (159 males, 141 females) in grades 10, 11, and 12 of a Melbourne suburban high school. The students were assigned randomly to one of three instructional treatment groups in an attempt to differentially stimulate different levels of C-State. The instructional treatments comprised: (i) Curiosity Stimulating Instructions (CSI); (ii) Neutral Instructions (NI); and (iii) Boredom Inducing Instructions (BII) respectively. These treatments preceded the first administration of the test-battery (comprising the C-State, SECS, STAIC A-State, and C-Trait scales in that order). A learning task (a prose passage about moon landings) ensued, followed immediately by the second administration of the test-battery. Finally, a posttest of immediate retention permitted an assessment of each treatment group's performance on the learning task. Alpha coefficients were high for both the C-State and C-Trait scales and subscales (ranging from .86 to .92). As expected, stability (test-retest) correlations were higher for the C-Trait scale and subscales than for the C-State ones. However in view of the short time interval of only 15-20 minutes between the two testing occasions, a higher correlation than .77 might have been expected for the C-Trait scale. Correlations between the respective curiosity measures were all positive and significant at better than the 1% level. Correlations between each curiosity measure and the A-State scale were all negative and significant at better than the 1% level. Correlations between the reversed and nonreversed subscales of the various measures generally supported these findings. However only tentative support for the state-trait curiosity distinction resulted. The factor analytic results were dominated by the reversed and nonreversed items and subscales which loaded orthogonal factors to a large extent. These findings (in conjunction with the ANOVA results) suggested that the reversed items should be eliminated from the C-State and C-Trait scales. ANOVA results also indicated that only for females in grade 12 did the instructional sets influence state curiosity and subsequent learning performance as predicted. Hence the present findings provided only partial support for the experimental hypotheses. The implications of these findings were discussed both with reference to the experiment .per se, and also in regard to previous conceptualization in the curiosity domain