[Actual Test] - Creative Problem-Solving
[Actual Test] - Creative Problem-Solving
Puzzle-solving is an ancient, universal practice, scholars say, and it depends on creative insight, or a primitive spark. Now, modern neuroscientists are beginning to tap its source.
A. In a recent study, researchers at Northwestern University in the United States found that people were more likely to solve word puzzles with sudden insight when they
B. This suggests that the appeal of puzzles goes far deeper than the pleasant rush of finding a solution. The very act of doing a puzzle typically shifts
"It's imagination, it's inference, it's guessing; and much of it is happening subconsciously," said Dr Marcel Danesi, a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, Canada. "It's
C. For almost a century scientists have used puzzles to study what they call 'insight thinking', the leaps of understanding that seem to come out of the blue.
In another well-known experiment, psychologists H.G. Birch and H.S. Rabinowitz challenged people to tie together two cords; the cords were hanging from the ceiling of a large
In some experiments, researchers gave clues to those who were stumped — for instance, by bumping into one of the strings so that it swung. Many of those
D. All along, researchers have debated the definitions of insight and analysis, and some have concluded that the two are merely different sides of the same coin. Yet
Either way, creative problem-solving usually requires both analysis and insight.
Adam Anderson, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, Canada, argues that although when people are solving problems they may move back and forth between these abilities, they
E. At first, studies did little more than confirm that brain areas that register reward spiked in activity when people came up with a solution, that is to say,
Those whose brains show a particular signature of preparatory activity — one that is strongly correlated with positive moods — turn out to be more likely to solve the
Previous research has also found activation of cells in a certain area of the brain when people widen or narrow their attention — say, when they filter out distractions
F. In the humor study, Beeman had college students solve word-association puzzles after watching a short video showing a stand-up comedian. Beeman found that these students solved more
This 'open' state of mind does not only apply to intellectual puzzles. In a study published last year, researchers at the University of Toronto found that people in
The findings fit with dozens of experiments linking positive moods to better creative problem-solving. "The implication is that positive mood engages this broad, attentional state that is both
