Speaking on The Guardian’s Science Focus podcast recently, Dr Mary Whatley, assistant professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, discussed how older people’s responses to trivia questions in a study she ran showed a more complex relationship between ageing and curiosity than was expected.

Participants were asked a trivia question, like which country was the first to allow women to vote or what the word “dinosaur” means.

They were also asked how curious they were to hear the answer to that question, as well as having their general curiosity assessed.

General curiosity among people who love things like reading broadly and exploring the world – far-reaching, or “trait,” curiosity – “ has been shown to relate to better cognitive outcomes,” Dr Whatley share

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