Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

How does actively seeking explanations for one’sobservations affect information search over the course oflearning? Generating explanations could plausibly leadlearners to take advantage of the information they havealready obtained, resulting in less exploration. Alternatively,explaining could lead learners to explore more, especiallyafter encountering evidence that suggests their current beliefsare incorrect. In two experiments using a modified observe orbet task, we investigate these possibilities and find support forthe latter: participants who are prompted to explain theirobservations in the course of learning tend to explore more,especially after encountering evidence that challenges acurrent belief.