Curiosity, learning and memory
Science and Research
Why does knowing a little about a topic make you want to know more? What changes when you are curious about the answer? Why can a subject you fear become so difficult to learn?
These questions shape Vidyaa’s work. Here we bring together research that informs our approach, the framework from The Primed Brain and the questions we are investigating next.
The Primed Brain and the Vibe State
Framework · Rashmi R Padhy
The Primed Brain describes three learning states: Unprimed, Primed and Defended. Vidyaa draws on this framework in designing learning technology. We call the Primed state the Vibe State: the learner has a developing mental map of the topic and wants to fill the gaps in it.
The studies below examine related questions about curiosity and memory. Each entry explains what was studied and how it connects to our approach.
Seeing a gap can make you want to read more
Foundational research · Published study · 2026
Study: Knowledge Gap Illustrations Spark Curiosity
Authors: Luisa Frede, Lisa Bardach, Younes Strittmatter, Eileen Richter, Marie Mueckstein and Markus W. H. Spitzer
Journal: Journal of Cognition · DOI: 10.5334/joc.501
Across two preregistered experiments, participants chose whether to read chapters after taking a knowledge test. Showing them moderate gaps in their knowledge increased their likelihood of reading. In the second experiment, these illustrations also improved subsequent test performance under the study’s conditions.
For Vidyaa, this helps explain why a learner needs something more specific than a familiar topic: an awareness of what they still want to understand. That gap can give curiosity a direction.
Curiosity can help a memory last beyond the first encounter
Foundational research · Published study · 2014
Study: States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit
Authors: Matthias J. Gruber, Bernard D. Gelman and Charan Ranganath
Journal: Neuron · DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.060
Participants remembered answers better when they were more curious about them. Benefits were found in immediate and one-day-delayed memory tests, including for incidental material encountered during high-curiosity states. Brain imaging linked these effects to activity in reward and memory-related regions.
This informs our emphasis on wanting to learn the next part of a topic, with retention as an important outcome alongside understanding it in the moment.
Stress can change what you learn and what you can recall
Foundational research · Review article · 2016
Study: Learning and memory under stress: implications for the classroom
Authors: Susanne Vogel and Lars Schwabe
Journal: npj Science of Learning · DOI: 10.1038/npjscilearn.2016.11
This review examines how stress affects learning and memory. Its effects depend on timing and context: stress can strengthen some memories while interfering with retrieval or the integration of new information.
The review provides background for the learning difficulties considered within the Defended-state framework. It helps explain why a learner’s stress response deserves attention alongside the explanation they are being given.
From Defended towards Primed
Vidyaa research direction · Ongoing
A learner may approach a subject expecting to fail or feel threatened by it. We are researching ways to help learners move from that protective response towards a state where they can engage with the topic and want to understand it.
This work is ongoing. As studies and findings become available, we will add them here with their methods and publication status.
Explore how we apply this thinking
Vidyaa AI brings this learning approach into technology. Vibe English is the first live application, with Vibe Learning being developed for academics.