Work

Insight solutions are correct more often than analytic solutions

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: How accurate are insights compared to analytical solutions? In four experiments, we investigated how participants' solving strategies influenced their solution accuracies across different types of problems, including one that was linguistic, one that was visual and two that were mixed visual-linguistic. In each experiment, participants' self-judged insight solutions were, on average, more accurate than their analytic ones. We hypothesised that insight solutions have superior accuracy because they emerge into consciousness in an all-or-nothing fashion when the unconscious solving process is complete, whereas analytic solutions can be guesses based on conscious, prematurely terminated, processing. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that participants' analytic solutions included relatively more incorrect responses (i.e., errors of commission) than timeouts (i.e., errors of omission) compared to their insight responses.

Source: Thinking & Reasoning

DOI: 10.1080/13546783.2016.1141798

Authors: Carola Salvi, Emanuela Bricolo, John Kounios, Edward Bowden, Mark Beeman

Institutions: Northwestern University, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, University of Milano-Bicocca, Drexel University, University of Wisconsin–Parkside

Language: English

Topic: Creativity in Education and Neuroscience

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green