What is the curiosity gap and how do youth athletes approach learning? Children (especially athletes) are deeply curious beings – a character strength that arises from our need to learn and develop. Early theories of curiosity proposed its main purpose was to reduce uncertainty and arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge and understanding.
Link: The Five Dimensions of Curiosity (hbr.org)
Research has shown that children will naturally structure play to construct knowledge of the world in a way that reduces this uncertainty. In 2011, Dr. Bonawitz and colleagues ran an experiment in which two groups of kids were given a novel toy to play with. The first group were given the toy with no information about how it worked. Another group was told exactly how to use it. The findings showed that the children played for a significantly longer amount of time and discovered more of the toys’ functions when no prior instructions were given. How can coaches (parents) interested in building greater player development and engagement take advantage of this in athlete development to focus on the “process” and uncertainty rather then the “outcome” and the results.
Curiosity as a tool to reduce uncertainty is clearly seen in sport and play. A lacrosse player, for instance, uncomfortable by nerves before a big game may spend hours shooting or playing wall ball in the week leading up to it. Actions focused on reducing the gap between what an athlete can do and what they would like to do reduces internal tension they are feeling. It gives the athlete more confidence that the results they are trying to achieve will eventuate in game when tested. This type of curiosity leads to an increase in effort, perseverance and problem-solving ability. However, it also comes with a distinct emotional tone that can be quite negative if left unchecked. A player needing to know all the rules or techniques before diving into a new skill, drill, or a contest can be overridden by a fear of failure or rather than excitement, feelings of worry and frustration may dominate. Athletes who express this type of negative curiosity are less interested in the processes of learning and more interested in getting to the outcome as quickly as possible because they are uncomfortable with the uncertainty that their effort will be perceived as success by their peers, coaches, and parents.
Fortunately, curiosity not only serves to reduce this uncertainty. Kids also seek novel experiences to test themselves and elicit feelings of joy. They climb trees just to see if they can get to the top, they jump in puddles to make the biggest splash, they play video games to level up with their mates and, if you let them, spend entire afternoons exploring the local forest with no adult in sight. This type of curiosity is an intrinsic drive to seek out novelty and challenge, to extend and exercise one’s capacities, to explore, and to learn, as a ‘joyous exploration’. Interest over time, fueled by the potential that exists for learning and the joy that comes from discovering it. Joyous exploration is abundant in the soccer futsol of Brazil, in every skatepark across the world, and, with the right intent, our own training and home environments.
An example at home would be creating interesting problems to solve and the freedom to explore them, allowing kids to become deliciously curious. I watched an amazing youtube video of a parent placing monkey bars hanging from the celling and climbing holds scattering along the walls and halls in their home. Keen to test their skills, their kids throw themselves into it. Instead of walking to their bedroom, they seem to prefer to take the aerial approach. As development process continues, placing additional obstacles, like a set of gymnastics rings, to increase the possibility for challenge was paramount in the video, and the kids were never forced, just encouraged to play.
Daniel Berlyne’s research in the 1960’s predicted that learners show a pattern of preference for challenge complexity that is tied to uncertainty and curiosity. Children will equally disengage from activity when they pre-determine the outcome is either that they will win or they will lose and instead, seek challenges that seem attainable without being overly pre-determined. In other words, with the freedom to choose, learners will select a challenge with an appropriate level of complexity for their ability level – i.e., one that is neither overly simple (already coded into memory) nor overly complex (too disparate from existing representations already coded into memory). Simply ask a youth lacrosse player what drills will they prefer to run and overwhelmingly a coach will hear “Sharks and Minnows” or “crunch berries” over even that of a full field scrimmage but more elite players will quickly bore of this and even “routine” fundamental drills that are required for strong skill development. The question that coaches should be asking is why is this and how we can maximize this to our advantage?
Average players want to hide in the crowd while elite players want to be “coached”. The challenge in both is to create a curious mind that asks more questions of their parents and coaches, (or even internally self reflective), engages in self-directed learning outside of structured training sessions, takes more risks, and persists for longer on challenging tasks. How then, do we foster one? The first step is to decide what type of curiosity you would like to see in the athlete – a search for certainty or joyous exploration? In reality, both types of curiosity show up to some extent in every experience. However, it is easier to design effective environments by focusing on one OR the other at separate times even in the same practice and through out the week or season.
- The search for certainty – rather than focus on the outcome or result, these environments highlight the gap between what an athlete knows or can do and what they would like to know or do. Rather than making this explicit through words (no one likes be told what to do), consider how you can evoke an athlete’s curiosity by exposing them to exciting and surprising information relevant to achieving their current goals and focusing on the process.
- Joyous exploration – there are two parts to this. First, design environments that hold interesting problems for athletes to solve at multiple levels of complexity. The level of challenge to opt in at is best decided by them, not you. Second, ensure the environment provides freedom for exploration and problem-solving without a definite path to the outcome. However, a caution as this may frustrate many athletes seeking to overcome the former certainty focused mindset.
Pressure comes from a lack of preparation, and those having the most fun on the sideline are usually “winning” regardless of what is reflected on the scoreboard. – Coach Speith
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