RTG 2906 Curiosity

Marlene M. Meyer

Research Area A: When are we curious?

M.Sc. Psychology (2020–2023), University Göttingen Thesis “How do 3-year-old children understand possibilities in a social context?”
B.Sc. Psychology (2016–2020), University Göttingen Thesis “Communicating uncertainty – Young children’s metacognition in social interactions”


Metacognitive development and curiosity in early childhood – Towards a social approach

My research focuses on the development of young children’s metacognition and modal cognition, particularly how they monitor and explicitly acknowledge their epistemic uncertainty. I am especially interested in the socio-communicative factors that shape these developmental trajectories and how children’s ability to represent uncertainty relates to their capacity to consider alternative possibilities and make rational choices. More recently, I have begun exploring the role of curiosity in these processes, aiming to understand how (social) metacognition and curiosity interact. By examining both implicit and explicit forms of metacognition and curiosity in collaborative contexts, my work seeks to uncover how social interactions influence children’s metacognitive abilities and curiosity-driven learning. Ultimately, this contributes to the broader question of when and why we are curious./p>


Curiosity as a metacognitive feeling

Development of metacognition

  • particularly the ability to represent differing epistemic states (e.g., knowledge, ignorance, uncertainty)
  • the role of communication and cooperation
  • relationship with and consequences for other socio-cognitive abilities (e.g., overlap with modal reasoning abilities, social learning, etc.)
  • role of and interplay with curiosity and curiosity-driven behavior

Development of modal cognition

  • particularly the ability to represent alternative, mutually exclusive possibilities
  • the role of justifications and reason-giving
  • relationship with and consequences for other socio-cognitive abilities (e.g., overlap with metacognition)



Research Assistance and Internships:

- Department of Developmental Psychology (University Göttingen), Göttinger Kindsköpfe lab, 2017–2023

- Department of Cognition, Emotion and Behavior (University Göttingen), ANAP lab, 2018–2019

Teaching:

- Bachelor Module „Socio-cognitive developmental psychology“: seminars on comparative developmental psychology (2023–ongoing)

- Master Module „Cognitive development“: lectures and seminars on Theory of Mind (2024–ongoing)

Conferences, summer schools, etc

2025

- Meyer, M. M., Proft, M., & Rakoczy, H. (January 9-11, 2025). Metacognition and modal reasoning in 3-year-old children: The relation between representing uncertainty and making rational choices. Poster presented at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development (BCCCD), Budapest, Hungary

2024

- Meyer, M. M., Proft, M., Rakoczy, H., & Engelmann, J. (March 21-23, 2024). Social metacognition: 3-year-olds demonstrate explicit metacognitive competence in social paradigm of partial ignorance task. Poster presented at the Bi-Ennial Conference of the Cognitive Development Society (CDS), Pasadena, California, USA

- Meyer, M. M., Proft, M., Schidelko, L. P., Rakoczy, H., & Engelmann, J. (January 4-6, 2024). Social metacognition – Effects of cooperative test contexts. Talk presented at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development (BCCCD), Budapest, Hungary

- Meyer, M. M., Proft, M., Schidelko, L. P., & Rakoczy, H. (January 4-6, 2024). How do 3-year-olds understand mutually exclusive possibilities in a social context? Poster presented at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development (BCCCD), Budapest, Hungary

2023

- Meyer, M. M., Proft, M., Schidelko, L. P., Engelmann, J., & Rakoczy, H. (August, 2023). Social metacognition – Preschoolers’ metacognitive insight under partial ignorance in social test contexts. Talk presented at the European Society of Psychology and Philosophy (ESPP), Prague, Czech Republic

2021

- Meyer, M. M., Engelmann, J., Proft, M., Schidelko, L. P., & Rakoczy, H. (October, 2021). Communicating uncertainty: Social metacognition in young children. Talk presented at the conference “Why And How We Give And Ask For Reasons”, Hradéc Kralové, Czech Republic