The Drive for Knowledge
The Science of Human Information Seeking

Paves the way towards a fully-fledged science of human information-seeking by discussing how and why people seek knowledge.

Irene Cogliati Dezza (Edited by), Eric Schulz (Edited by), Charley M. Wu (Edited by)

9781316515907, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 June 2022

300 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

'Research on information seeking is rapidly emerging as a unifying force in cognitive science - one that seeks to explain how humans and animals build and refine their models of the world. By integrating mathematical models with psychology and neuroscience, this fascinating new volume provides a concise overview of the motivations and mechanisms that support information search, and highlights the pervasive role our thirst for information (and misinformation) plays in human society.' Stephen Fleming, University College London, UK

Humans constantly search for and use information to solve a wide range of problems related to survival, social interactions, and learning. While it is clear that curiosity and the drive for knowledge occupies a central role in defining what being human means to ourselves, where does this desire to know the unknown come from? What is its purpose? And how does it operate? These are some of the core questions this book seeks to answer by showcasing new and exciting research on human information-seeking. The volume brings together perspectives from leading researchers at the cutting edge of the cognitive sciences, working on human brains and behavior within psychology, computer science, and neuroscience. These vital connections between disciplines will continue to lead to further breakthroughs in our understanding of human cognition.

Preface Cogliati Dezza ,Schulz and Wu, Part I. What Drives Humans to Seek Information?: 1. The motivational processes of sense-making Zachary Wojtowicz, Nicholas Chater, George Loewenstein
2. From curiosity to interest: Accumulated knowledge supports long-term persistence of information-seeking behavior Ed Donnellan, Michiko Sakaki, Kou Murayama
3. Curiosity-driven exploration: diversity of mechanisms and functions Alexander Ten, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Clément moulin-Frier
4. Searching for information, from infancy to adolescence Costanza De Simone and Azzurra Ruggeri
Part II. How do Humans Search for Information?: 5. What makes a good query? Prospects for a comprehensive theory of human information acquisition Björn Meder, Vincenzo Crupi, Jonathan D. Nelson
6. Active inference, Bayesian optimal design and expected utility Noor Sajid, Lancelot Da Costa, Thomas Parr and Karl Friston
7. Exploration beyond bandits Franziska Braendle, Marcel Binz and Eric Schulz
8. Representational exchange in human social learning: Balancing efficiency and flexibility Charley Wu, Natalia Vélez and Fiery Cushman
Part III. Which machinery supports the drive for knowledge?: 9. Information-seeking in the brain Caroline J. Charpentier and Irene Cogliati Dezza
10. Attention as rational choice Jacqueline Gottlieb
11. Seeking inner knowledge: Foraging in semantic space Thomas T. Hills, Nancy B. Lundin, Mahi Luthra and Peter M. Todd
12. Edgework: Viewing curiosity as fundamentally relational Perry Zurn, Dale Zhou, David M Lydon-Staley and Danielle S. Bassett
Future directions Cogliati Dezza, Schulz and Wu.

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR]