Shedding light on insight: Priming bright ideas.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Michael L SlepianNalini Ambady

Abstract

Previous research has characterized insight as the product of internal processes, and has thus investigated the cognitive and motivational processes that immediately precede it. In this research, however, we investigate whether insight can be catalyzed by a cultural artifact, an external object imbued with learned meaning. Specifically, we exposed participants to an illuminating lightbulb - an iconic image of insight - prior to or during insight problem-solving. Across four studies, exposing participants to an illuminating lightbulb primed concepts associated with achieving an insight, and enhanced insight problem-solving in three different domains (spatial, verbal, and mathematical), but did not enhance general (non-insight) problem-solving.

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Citations

Feb 18, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Jonathon P SchuldtSahara E Byrne
Oct 14, 2014·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Natalie A Kacinik
Sep 2, 2016·Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science·Lucas A Keefer, Mark J Landau
Oct 6, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Judit PéterváriJoydeep Bhattacharya
Feb 4, 2012·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Carsten K W De DreuMarieke Roskes
Feb 28, 2019·Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience·Fei YuWencai Zhang
Mar 30, 2018·Frontiers in Psychology·Carolin P BurmeisterUlrike Cress
Jun 11, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Elena S Kulkova, Martin H Fischer

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