On the nature of insight solutions: evidence from skill differences in anagram solution.

Full Abstract

According to the Gestalt psychologists, problem solutions that pop into mind suddenly with no awareness of the process by which they were generated are objectively as well as subjectively sudden. Thus, such pop-out solutions are qualitatively different from search solutions, which are constructed incrementally. The authors tested this claim in the domain of anagram solution. Experiment 1 documented that anagrams yield pop-out solutions, especially among highly skilled solvers. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that both pop-out and search solutions depended on the gradual accumulation of partial information, contrary to the Gestalt view of problem solving. Nevertheless, some aspects of the Experiment 2 results, as well as new analyses of an anagram study reported elsewhere, suggest that there may in fact be a qualitative difference between pop-out and search solutions. In particular, pop-out solutions may result from parallel processing of the constraints on the rearranged order of the anagram letters, whereas search solutions may result from a serial hypothesis-testing procedure. Like dynamite, the insightful solution explodes on the solver's cognitive landscape with breathtaking suddenness, but if one looks closely, a long fuse warns of the impending reorganization. (Durso, Rea, & Dayton, 1994, p. 98)

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Author information

Author/s: Novick, Laura R (LR); Sherman, Steven J (SJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. Laura.Novick(-atsign-)vanderbilt.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology (Q J Exp Psychol A), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 56 (issue 2) : pp 351-82

Dates: Created 2003/03/04; Completed 2003/04/04; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12613568, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aptitude - physiology
Awareness
Gestalt Theory
Humans

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