The results of their experiment are shown in ● Figure 12.4, which
indicates the median warmth ratings for all of the participants during
the minute just before they solved the two kinds of problems.
For the insight problems (solid line), warmth ratings remain low
at 2 or 3 until just before the problem is solved. Notice that 15 sec-
onds before the solution, the median rating is a relatively cold 3 for
the insight problems. In contrast, for the algebra problems (dashed
line), the ratings gradually increased until the problem was solved.
Thus, Metcalfe and Wiebe demonstrated a difference between insight
and noninsight problems. The solution for problems that have been
called insight problems does, in fact, occur suddenly, as measured by
people’s reports of how close they feel they are to a solution.
The Gestalt psychologists believed that restructuring was usu-
ally involved in solving insight problems, so they focused on these
types of problems. Their research strategy was to devise problems
and situations that made it diffi cult for people to achieve the restruc-
turing needed to solve the problem. They hoped to learn about pro-
cesses involved in problem solving by studying obstacles to problem
solving.OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING
One of the major obstacles to problem solving, according to the
Gestalt psychologists, is fi xation—people’s tendency to focus on a
specifi c characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving
at a solution. One type of fi xation that can work against solving a
problem is focusing on familiar uses of an object.
Restricting the use of an object to its familiar functions is called functional fi xed-
ness (Jansson & Smith, 1991). The candle problem, fi rst described by Karl Duncker
(1945), illustrates how functional fi xedness can hinder problem solving. In his experi-
ment, he asked participants to use various objects to complete a task. The following
demonstration asks you to try to solve Duncker’s problem by imagining that you have
the specifi ed objects.You are in a room with a corkboard on the wall. You
are given the materials in ● Figure 12.5—some can-
dles, matches in a matchbox, and some tacks. Your
task is to mount a candle on the corkboard so it will
burn without dripping wax on the fl oor. Try to fi g-
ure out how you would solve this problem before
reading further, and then check your answer in
● Figure 12.28 (page 356).The solution to the problem occurs when
the person realizes that the matchbox can be
used as a support rather than as a container.
When Duncker did this experiment, he pre-
sented one group of participants with small
cardboard boxes containing the materials
(candles, tacks, and matches) and presented
another group with the same materials, but
outside the boxes, so the boxes were empty.–60 –45 –30 –15 2
Time before solution (sec)Solved 7Median warmth rating1Cold 065432Algebra
Insight●FIGURE 12.4 Results of Metcalfe and Wiebe’s
(1987) experiment showing participants’ judgments
of how close they were to solving insight problems
and algebra problems during the minute just before
solving the problem. (Source: Based on J. Metcalfe &
D. Wiebe, “Intuition in Insight and Noninsight Problem Solving,”
Memory and Cognition, 15, 238–246, 1987.)●FIGURE 12.5 Objects for Duncker’s (1945) candle problem. (Source: Based on
K. Duncker, “On Problem Solving,” Psychological Monographs 58, 5, Whole No. 270, 1945.)
The Gestalt Approach • 329Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.