Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Seminar Series
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
2:30 PM-3:30 PM
David Lydon-Staley, Associate Professor of Communication, University of
Pennsylvania, will present
"Curiosity in the lab, in daily life, and online: Measurement and
intervention implications for health behavior."
Curiosity can be conceptualized as (1) a desire to know, (2) an open and
accepting orientation toward experience, and (3) a practice enacted through
information seeking. In this talk, I show how these distinct conceptualizations
can be operationalized to understand and influence health behavior across
laboratory, in situ, and online contexts. Drawing on experimental studies,
smartphone-based ecological momentary interventions, and large-scale analyses
of online behavior, I demonstrate how inducing or supporting curiosity can
shape substance use–related decision-making, reduce cue-induced craving, and
alter real-world behavior. Together, this work positions curiosity as a
multi-level construct with implications for measurement and the design of
scalable health interventions.
David Lydon-Staley, MFA, PhD, is an Associate Professor of
Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Addiction,
Health, & Adolescence (AHA!) Lab. His research focuses on how
moment-to-moment dynamics in behavior, emotion, and media use shape substance
use, curiosity, and health across the lifespan, using experimental,
neuroimaging, and intensive longitudinal methods. His work has been supported
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Brain & Behavior Research
Foundation. He also holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Drexel University
and is a fiction writer.
Zoom link
Contact Information
Nancy Colon-Anderson
nanderson@drexel.edu