328 • CHAPTER 12 Problem Solving
insight, the solution to most of the problems posed by Gestalt psychologists involves
suddenly discovering a crucial element that leads to the solution (Dunbar, 1998).
The Gestalt psychologists assumed that people solving their problems were expe-
riencing insight because the solutions usually seemed to come to them all of a sudden.
Modern researchers have debated whether insight actually exists. Some point out that
people often experience problem solving as an “Aha!” experience—at one point they
don’t have the answer, and the next minute they have solved the problem—which is one
of the characteristics associated with insight problems (Bowden et al., 2005; Kounios
et al., 2008). Other researchers have emphasized the lack of evidence, other than anec-
dotal reports, to support the specialness of the insight experience (Weisberg, 1995;
Weisberg & Alba, 1981, 1982).
Janet Metcalfe and David Wiebe (1987) did an experiment designed to distinguish
between insight problems and noninsight problems. Their starting point was the idea
that there should be a basic difference in how participants feel they are progressing
toward a solution as they are working on an insight problem versus a noninsight prob-
lem. They predicted that participants working on an insight problem, in which the
answer appears suddenly, should not be very good at predicting how near they are
to a solution. Participants working on a noninsight problem, which involves a more
methodical process, would be more likely to know when they are getting closer to the
solution.
To test this hypothesis, Metcalfe and Wiebe gave participants insight problems,
as in the demonstration below, and noninsight problems and asked them to make
“warmth” judgments every 15 seconds as they were working on the problems. Ratings
closer to “hot” (7 on a 7-point scale) indicated that they believed they were getting close
to a solution; ratings closer to “cold” (1 on the scale) indicated that they felt that they
were far from a solution. Here are some examples of insight problems.TRIANGLE PROBLEM The triangle shown in ● Figure 12.3a points to the top of the page. Show
how you can move three of the circles to get the triangle to point to the bottom of the page. (For
the answer, see ● Figure 12.26 on page 356.)
As you work on this problem, see whether you can monitor your progress. Do you feel as
though you are making steady progress toward a solution
until eventually it all adds up to the answer, or as though
you are not really making much progress but then sud-
denly experience the solution like an “Aha!” experience?
Once you have tried the triangle problem, try the following
problem and monitor your progress in the same way.CHAIN PROBLEM A woman has four pieces of chain. Each
piece is made up of three links, as shown in Figure 12.3b.
She wants to join the pieces into a single closed loop of
chain. To open a link costs 2 cents and to close a link costs
3 cents. She has only 15 cents. How does she do it? (For
the answer, see ● Figure 12.27 on page 356.)For noninsight problems, Metcalfe and Wiebe used algebra problems like the fol-
lowing, which were taken from a high school mathematics text.Solve for x: (1/5)x + 10 = 25
Factor 16y^2 − 40 yz + 25 z^2(a) (b)●FIGURE 12.3 (a) Triangle problem and (b) chain problem for “Two
Insight Problems” demonstration.Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.