Episodic Memory
Trivia Curiosity Task
Also called: curiosity-enhanced memory, trivia paradigm, epistemic curiosity, curiosity and memory
Measure how curiosity helps memory. Compare typed recall of trivia answers people were curious about with answers they were not.
11-14 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 30
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures how curiosity helps memory. Participants rate how curious they are about the answers to 30 trivia questions, see each answer after a short wait, then type the answers in a recall test. The main score is recall of high-curiosity answers minus low-curiosity answers.
Constructs
- Curiosity
- Episodic memory
- Information seeking
- Curiosity-enhanced memory
Research uses
- Memory research
- Educational psychology
- Motivation research
How the paradigm works
Curiosity about the answer to a question can help a person remember it. Participants read 30 trivia questions we wrote, in their own language, in a seeded order. For each, they rate how sure they are that they know the answer and how curious they are to find it out, both from 1 to 6; the question then stays on screen for a 5-second wait before its answer is shown for 4 seconds. One practice question comes first. After 30 seconds of true-or-false arithmetic, a recall test the instructions did not announce shows every question again, in a new seeded order, and participants type each answer or leave it blank.
Scores
- Curiosity Recall Benefitpoints
- Percentage of high-curiosity answers recalled minus low-curiosity answers, in percentage points, among answers the person was not sure they knew. Positive values mean better recall when curious.
- Compare groups
- High-Curiosity Recall%
- Percentage recalled of unknown answers rated 4 to 6 in curiosity.
- Informational
- Low-Curiosity Recall%
- Percentage recalled of unknown answers rated 1 to 3 in curiosity.
- Informational
- Curiosity-Recall Gammascore
- Goodman-Kruskal gamma between curiosity ratings and recall over unknown answers, from -1 to 1; null when undefined.
- Informational
- Answers Recalled%
- Percentage of all recall questions answered correctly.
- Higher means more recalled
- Unknown Answers Recalled%
- Percentage recalled of answers the person was not sure they knew.
- Informational
- Answers Known Beforehandcount
- Questions rated 6, sure to know the answer; left out of the curiosity comparison.
- Informational
- High-Curiosity Questionscount
- Unknown answers rated 4 to 6 in curiosity.
- Informational
- Low-Curiosity Questionscount
- Unknown answers rated 1 to 3 in curiosity.
- Informational
- Mean Curiosityscore
- Mean curiosity rating, from 1 to 6.
- Informational
- Mean Knowing Ratingscore
- Mean rating of how sure the person was of knowing the answer, from 1 to 6.
- Informational
- Recalled Answerscount
- Recall questions answered correctly.
- Informational
- Blank Answerscount
- Recall questions left blank.
- Informational
- Answers With a Slipcount
- Correct answers accepted with one letter off.
- Informational
- Questions Recalledcount
- Unique recall questions from the scored run.
- 30 standard
- Planned Questionscount
- Questions planned for the session.
- 30 standard
- Median Rating Timems
- Median time to give a rating, excluding times under 100 ms.
- Informational
- Median Recall Timems
- Median time to submit a recall answer, excluding times under 100 ms.
- Informational
- Ratings Under 100 mscount
- Ratings given within 100 ms of the screen.
- 0 expected
- Earlier Sessionscount
- Earlier sessions of this test by the same participant; the recall test is a surprise only the first time.
- 0 expected
Use and evidence
30 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 67% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 436 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2020 | 6 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2010 | 1 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 4
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: its papers name the task in many ways, so the phrases undercount it.
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Questions
- 30 original trivia questions in all 8 languages, each answer checked against a cited source. 1 practice question comes first.
- Ratings
- For each question: how sure the person is of knowing the answer, then how curious they are, both from 1 to 6.
- Answers
- The question stays on screen for a 5-second wait (2 to 12), then the answer shows for 4 seconds.
- Recall test
- After 30 seconds of true-or-false arithmetic (0 to 120), every question again in a new order, with a typed answer. The instructions do not announce it.
- Scoring
- Typed answers checked by rule against the forms accepted in each language; case, accents, an article and one slip in longer words are allowed.
- Scores
- Recall of high-curiosity (4 to 6) minus low-curiosity (1 to 3) answers in percentage points, leaving out answers rated sure to be known; also the curiosity-recall gamma.
The questions, answers and translations are our own. Recall is tested in the same session, and the items have no published norms. With 30 questions, each person's high- and low-curiosity groups are small, so compare groups of people run with the same settings. The surprise works once, so later sessions are flagged. Scores support research and do not diagnose. No percentile output.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: trivia_curiosity_recall from the run with the most recall rows, linked by question to its knowing and curiosity ratings, which are the rows judged for speed. Ratings have no correct answer, and recall is typed, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Ratings under 200 ms on at least half of four or more invalidate. A missing curiosity comparison, fewer than four unknown answers in a curiosity group, no typed answer, fewer recall questions than planned or an earlier session are flagged for review. Hidden tabs withhold percentiles.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. The curiosity comparison needs unknown answers in both groups, so a person who knows most answers or rates every question alike yields no comparison rather than a failed task. The four-per-group flag is a ConductScience choice. An answer under 200 ms is faster than a simple visual reaction, so it cannot reflect the item. Following response-time effort screening for untimed tests (Wise and Kong 2005), the session is invalid only when at least half the answers are that fast. A hidden tab during the wait or the answer changes what was studied, so a percentile is withheld after one.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Wait before each answer (seconds) | 5 | 2 to 12 |
| Break before the recall test (seconds) | 30 | 0 to 120 |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Trivia Curiosity Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Kang MJ, Hsu M, Krajbich IM, Loewenstein G, McClure SM, Wang JT, Camerer CF, 2009; Gruber MJ, Gelman BD, Ranganath C, 2014), with the standard settings (wait before each answer (seconds): 5; break before the recall test (seconds): 30). The main score was curiosity recall benefit (percentage of high-curiosity answers recalled minus low-curiosity answers, in percentage points, among answers the person was not sure they knew).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Kang, M. J., Hsu, M., Krajbich, I. M., Loewenstein, G., McClure, S. M., Wang, J. T., & Camerer, C. F. (2009). The wick in the candle of learning: Epistemic curiosity activates reward circuitry and enhances memory. Psychological Science, 20(8), 963–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02402.xCuriosity ratings for trivia questions, a countdown before each answer and later recall of the answers. Original questions only.
- Gruber, M. J., Gelman, B. D., & Ranganath, C. (2014). States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the dopaminergic circuit. Neuron, 84(2), 486–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.060Six-point knowing and curiosity ratings, high (4 to 6) and low (1 to 3) curiosity, answers already known left out, and a surprise recall test.
Source papers
- Kang et al. (2009); Gruber, Gelman and Ranganath (2014): recall of trivia answers by curiosity.Paradigm source, Adults who read the session language
Questions
How long does the Trivia Curiosity Task take?
About 11 to 14 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Curiosity Recall Benefit, High-Curiosity Recall, Low-Curiosity Recall, Curiosity-Recall Gamma, Answers Recalled, Unknown Answers Recalled, Answers Known Beforehand, High-Curiosity Questions, Low-Curiosity Questions, Mean Curiosity, Mean Knowing Rating, Recalled Answers, Blank Answers, Answers With a Slip, Questions Recalled, Planned Questions, Median Rating Time, Median Recall Time, Ratings Under 100 ms and Earlier Sessions. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Trivia Curiosity Task used in research?
30 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 67% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 436 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Trivia Curiosity Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Wait before each answer (seconds) (2 to 12) and break before the recall test (seconds) (0 to 120). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese, with its words in the same language. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.