Kang, Camerer, Loewenstein et al. (2009), Psychological Science 20(8) — "Wick in the Candle of Learning": fMRI shows curiosity → caudate (reward) activity; better recall 1-2 weeks later; people spend tokens to satisfy curiosity

Claim: Kang et al. (2009), "The Wick in the Candle of Learning," Psychological Science 20(8), 963-973 (Caltech / CMU team incl. Loewenstein, Camerer). fMRI while reading trivia questions: curiosity correlated with activity in caudate regions tied to anticipated reward; in a behavioural study people spent scarce resources (limited tokens or waiting time) to learn answers when more curious; curiosity predicted better recall of surprising answers 1-2 weeks later. Pupil dilation tracked curiosity.

Source: Kang et al. (2009), Psychological Science.

Confidence: Verified.

Caveat: Reward/learning study, not an engagement-with-tools study — the bridge to interactive tools is inferential.

Why this matters for Candid: Strongest single piece of neural / behavioural evidence that unsatisfied curiosity carries motivational and memory weight. The "people spent tokens to learn" finding generalises cleanly to "users will give some friction (form fields, time) to satisfy the curiosity a tool opened."