ERIC Number: EJ1055964
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-May
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Cognitive Mechanisms of Insight: The Role of Heuristics and Representational Change in Solving the Eight-Coin Problem
Öllinger, Michael; Jones, Gary; Faber, Amory H.; Knoblich, Günther
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v39 n3 p931-939 May 2013
The 8-coin insight problem requires the problem solver to move 2 coins so that each coin touches exactly 3 others. Ormerod, MacGregor, and Chronicle (2002) explained differences in task performance across different versions of the 8-coin problem using the availability of particular moves in a 2-dimensional search space. We explored 2 further explanations by developing 6 new versions of the 8-coin problem in order to investigate the influence of grouping and self-imposed constraints on solutions. The results identified 2 sources of problem difficulty: first, the necessity to overcome the constraint that a solution can be found in 2-dimensional space and, second, the necessity to decompose perceptual groupings. A detailed move analysis suggested that the selection of moves was driven by the established representation rather than the application of the appropriate heuristics. Both results support the assumptions of representational change theory (Ohlsson, 1992).
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Problem Solving, Heuristics, Difficulty Level, Experiments, Classification, Visual Perception
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
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Author Affiliations: N/A