In search of the 'Aha!' experience: Elucidating the emotionality of insight problem-solving

• Published in: The British journal of psychology Vol. 107; no. 2; pp. 281 - 298
• Main Authors: Shen, Wangbing, Yuan, Yuan, Liu, Chang, Luo, Jing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2016; British Psychological Society
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; affective experience; Affective experiences; Cognition; Cognition - physiology; creative cognition; Creativity; Emotionality; Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Female; Happiness; Humans; insight problem-solving; Male; Positive emotions; Problem solving; Problem Solving - physiology; Solutions; Young Adult; affective experience; creative cognition; happiness; insight problem-solving
• ISSN: 0007-1269; 2044-8295
• DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12142

Although the experience of insight has long been noted, the essence of the ‘Aha!’ experience, reflecting a sudden change in the brain that accompanies an insight solution, remains largely unknown. This work aimed to uncover the mystery of the ‘Aha!’ experience through three studies. In Study 1, participants were required to solve a set of verbal insight problems and then subjectively report their affective experience when solving the problem. The participants were found to have experienced many types of emotions, with happiness the most frequently reported one. Multidimensional scaling was employed in Study 2 to simplify the dimensions of these reported emotions. The results showed that these different types of emotions could be clearly placed in two‐dimensional space and that components constituting the ‘Aha!’ experience mainly reflected positive emotion and approached cognition. To validate previous findings, in Study 3, participants were asked to select the most appropriate emotional item describing their feelings at the time the problem was solved. The results of this study replicated the multidimensional construct consisting of approached cognition and positive affect. These three studies provide the first direct evidence of the essence of the ‘Aha!’ experience. The potential significance of the findings was discussed.