ABSTRACT

Incubation periods may be beneficial for insight problem solving either because they allow to mentally disengage from incorrect solution attempts or because they provide additional opportunities to rethink a problem. We investigated whether incubation periods either filled with an easy stimulus-response task, which does not require much attention, a more difficult stimulus-response task, or a mindfulness intervention, which should both require higher sustained-attention levels, differently affect problem solving. Results showed no difference in solution rates and frequencies of Aha! Experiences between the stimulus-response-task groups, which generally thought more, and the mindfulness group, which generally thought less about yet unsolved problems during the incubation period. Results did not change when individual differences in working-memory capacity and trait mind-wandering were controlled for. These findings suggest that short incubation periods may not be overly beneficial for insight problem solving, independent of whether they allow to periodically redirect attention to pending problems or not.

摘要

潜伏期可能有利于洞察问题的解决，因为它们允许在精神上摆脱错误的解决方案尝试，或者因为它们提供了重新思考问题的额外机会。我们调查了潜伏期是否充满了不需要太多注意力的简单刺激反应任务、更困难的刺激反应任务或正念干预（两者都需要更高的持续注意力水平）对问题解决的不同影响。结果表明，Aha! 的溶解速度和频率没有差异。刺激-反应-任务组之间的经验，通常想得更多，而正念组在潜伏期内通常较少考虑尚未解决的问题。当控制工作记忆能力和特质走神的个体差异时，结果没有改变。这些发现表明，较短的潜伏期可能不会对解决洞察力问题过于有益，这与它们是否允许定期将注意力转向未决问题无关。