Efforts have been made to promote children's interest in science, but little is known about how children's interest in science relates to other characteristics, such as science‐specific curiosity, domain‐general epistemic curiosity, and verbal intelligence. The current study examines how these factors relate to individual differences in children's self‐reported interest in science topics. Children 7‐ to 10‐years‐old (n = 91) rated their interest in science and non‐science topics and completed measures of science‐specific curiosity, domain‐general epistemic curiosity, and verbal intelligence. An additional 94 7‐ to 10‐year‐olds rated their interest in science and non‐science topics and completed the science‐specific curiosity measure. The results suggest that individual differences in children's science interest relate most strongly to scientific curiosity, and specifically to the drive to seek out information and new experiences.

中文翻译：

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探索儿童对科学兴趣的个体差异的来源

人们一直在努力提高儿童对科学的兴趣，但是对于儿童对科学的兴趣如何与其他特征（如特定于科学的好奇心，领域普遍的认知好奇心和言语智力）之间的关系知之甚少。本研究调查了这些因素如何与儿童自我报告的对科学主题的兴趣中的个体差异有关。7至10岁的儿童（n = 91）评估了他们对科学和非科学主题的兴趣，并完成了对特定科学的好奇心，领域普遍的认知好奇心和言语智力的测评。另外94位7至10岁的孩子对科学和非科学主题感兴趣，并完成了针对科学的好奇心测评。结果表明，儿童对科学兴趣的个体差异与科学好奇心密切相关，特别是与寻求信息和新体验的动力有关。