Interactions between the dynamics and phenomenology of creative relational reasoning: the effect of analogical 'aha!' moments on affect, learning, and transfer
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Understanding how humans acquire, generalize, and transform information and ideas to generate innovative concepts and products is a fundamental goal of cognitive science and the science of creativity. Two core mechanisms associated with learning and creativity are analogical reasoning and insight. Analogical reasoning refers to recognizing and reasoning about common relational structures across items, situations, and contexts, enabling us to learn quickly and come up with creative solutions. Insight, on the other hand, involves sudden, rapid changes in ideas and concepts, often resulting in creative breakthroughs. Analogical reasoning and insight are both associated with significant leaps and non-linear changes in our mental representations, as well as positive affect. Across three studies, I examined the relationship between aha moments and analogical transfer, the task-related conditions and individual differences that promote aha experiences and increases in positive affect during analogical reasoning, and physiological responses to aha experiences resulting from analogies and their relationship to memory. The findings contribute to our understanding of the metacognitive function, motivational value, and somatic underpinnings of insight, and the affective components of relational reasoning.
DOI: 10.17918/00001769
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4387665813