An Empirical Spotlight on the Science of Asking Questions

Dear Colleagues,

Asking questions is an integral function in our search for information. We constantly use questions in our daily lives, when we interact with our children, in the classroom, when attempting to solve problems, and even when prompting advanced AI language models for answers. Nevertheless, much remains unknown about question-asking, i.e., what makes certain questions better than others in achieving our information-seeking goals.

While question-asking is a fundamental cognitive capacity, the scientific inquiry of this capacity has largely been reserved for philosophy and the educational sciences. This is likely due to traditional challenges in defining and measuring question-asking in empirical research. However, recent years have seen an increase in the application of computational methods used to empirically collect and analyze naturalistic behaviors and responses—methods that can and are slowly being used to assess question-asking.

The aim of this Special Issue, therefore, is to advance a scientific field that centers around asking questions, bringing this critical capacity into the empirical center stage and shining a spotlight over it in order to delve into its nature and role in complex human behavior. The focus of this Issue will be on theoretical, computational, and empirical work that focuses on question-asking across different levels of analysis.

Moreover, this Special Issue will focus on assembling unknown information about the question-asking ability, with the aim of exploring novel empirical and theoretical research questions that help us define and measure this foundational skill. Contributions to it can focus on (but do not have to be limited to) issues such as the following: 1) measurement: a broader understanding of the metrics that can be used to assess more effective questions and how best to assess and define successful questioning behavior; 2) cognitive: how question-asking is related to cognitive capacities such as intelligence, creativity, curiosity, and learning; and 3) individual differences: how question-asking aids information seeking and varies across individuals, or how question-asking changes across individuals, age, and context. Within this framework, we welcome empirical submissions that focus on one or more of the following topics:

• Methods for the assessment of question-asking abilities;
• Definition of the metrics that comprise effective questions;
• Self-perception of question-asking ability;
• Individual differences related to question-asking capacity, e.g., across the lifespan, culture, and cognitive abilities;
• The influence of cognitive factors and traits that influence the question-asking ability;
• How questions influence the way we learn and understand the world;
• Question-asking and intervention research;
• Question-asking and AI.

Dr. Yoed N. Kenett
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• question-asking
• information-seeking
• inquiry
• learning
• complexity