Epistemic Curiosity / I-D Model

CORE DEFINITION

A model developed by Jordan Litman and Paul Silvia that separates epistemic curiosity into two dimensions: interest-type curiosity, triggered by novelty and experienced as pleasurable exploration, and deprivation-type curiosity, triggered by an information gap and experienced as an aversive drive to close it. The core proposition is that the two have different triggers and consequences, so interest sustains engagement while deprivation drives persistence toward a specific answer. The key qualification is that deprivation is uncomfortable and cannot be sustained indefinitely, so relying on it alone produces frustration rather than durable learning.