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Research on insight problem solving examines how new ideas are generated to solve problems that initially resist the application of prior knowledge or analogue solutions. In the laboratory, insight problems are designed to create an impasse; overcoming the impasse is sometimes accompanied by a distinctive phenomenological experience, the so-called Aha! moment. Insight: On the Origins of New Ideas presents research that captures these episodes of insight under laboratory conditions and informs models that account for their emergence. Descriptions and analyses of episodes of discovery both in and out of the laboratory are included to provide a general overview of insight. Featuring contributions from leading researchers, the volume debates the relative importance of intelligence and working memory, the development of an alternative interpretation of the problem based on deliberate analyses and heuristics, and unconscious inferences in the emergence of insight. These discussions generate new testable hypotheses to shed light on the cognitive processes underpinning insight, along with concrete methodological recommendations that, together, map a productive programme of future research. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of thinking and reasoning - specifically those interested in insight and creative problem solving.
E-Book Content
INSIGHT Research on insight problem solving examines how new ideas are generated to solve problems that initially resist the application of prior knowledge or analogue solutions. In the laboratory, insight problems are designed to create an impasse; overcoming the impasse is sometimes accompanied by a distinctive phenomenological experience, the so-called Aha! moment. Insight: On the Origins of New Ideas presents research that captures these episodes of insight under laboratory conditions and informs models that account for their emergence. Descriptions and analyses of episodes of discovery both in and out of the laboratory are included to provide a general overview of insight. Featuring contributions from leading researchers, the volume debates the relative importance of intelligence and working memory, the development of an alternative interpretation of the problem based on deliberate analyses and heuristics, and unconscious inferences in the emergence of insight. These discussions generate new testable hypotheses to shed light on the cognitive processes underpinning insight, along with concrete methodological recommendations that, together, map a productive program of future research. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of thinking and reasoning – specifically those interested in insight and creative problem solving. Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau is Professor of Psychology at Kingston University, UK. Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning Series Editor: Linden Ball Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning is a series of edited books that will reflect the state of the art in areas of current and emerging interest in the psychological study of thinking processes. Each volume will be tightly focused on a particular topic and will consist of between seven and ten chapters contributed by international experts. The editors of individual volumes will be leading figures in their areas and will provide an introductory overview. Example topics include thinking and working memory, visual imagery in problem solving, evolutionary approaches to thinking, cognitive processes in planning, creative thinking, decision-making processes, pathologies of thinking, individual differences, neuropsychological approaches and applications of thinking research. Individual Differences in Judgement and Decision Making Edited by Maggie E. Toplak and Joshua Weller Moral Inferences Edited by Jean-François Bonnefon and Bastien Trémolière Dual Process