Study title

Insight problems are impossible to solve until there is a change in how the problem is represented. There are two alternative approaches to explaining insight problem solving. The 'business as usual' approach argues that solving occurs through small consciously reportable steps that gradually change the problem representation. The second, 'special process' approach argues that solving requires unconscious un-reportable processes that lead to apparently sudden solutions. A key method in distinguishing the two approaches is to examine effects of thinking aloud during insight problem solving. According to the 'business as usual' view the processes involved in solving insight problems are as reportable as those involved in non-insight tasks and attempting to think aloud should not affect performance. However, the 'special process' view holds that since the important processes are unconscious and unreportable, attempts to think aloud during insight problem solving will be disruptive and interfere with the natural course of insight problem solving. This project will examine effects of different instructions for thinking aloud and will use a considerably larger set of problems than have been studied before. The materials will include both spatial and verbal insight and non-insight problems to check whether effects differ between spatial and verbal tasks.