Abstract
The current study analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with visuo-spatial transformation in order to examine how “chunk tightness” affects the difficulty of chunk decomposition problems. Participants completed a Chinese character decomposition task in three conditions according to the tightness of the to-be-decomposed chunk (tight vs. medium vs. loose). Behavioral data showed that performance became worse (longer reaction time, lower accuracy) as chunk tightness increased. ERP data showed that, as chunk tightness increased, the LPC exhibited a significant decrease at posterior electrode sites. The results indicate that chunk tightness might exert its primary effect on chunk decomposition difficulty by increasing the difficulty of visuo-spatial transformation, a process linked to the parietal LPC.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chase WG, Simon HA (1973) Perception in chess. Cogn Psychol 4(1):55–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2
Cranford EA, Moss J (2012) Is insight always the same? A protocol analysis of insight in compound remote associate problems. J Probl Solving 4(2):128–153. https://doi.org/10.7771/1932-6246.1129
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ
Dasdemir Y, Yildirim E, Yildirim S (2017) Analysis of functional brain connections for positive–negative emotions using phase locking value. Cogn Neurodyn 11(6):487–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-017-9447-z
De Groot AD (1978) Thought and choice in chess. Mouton Publishers, The Hague
Duncker K (1945) On problem-solving. Psychol Monogr 58(3):1–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093599
Erdogdu E, Kurt E, Duru AD, Uslu A, Başar-Eroğlu C, Demiralp T (2019) Measurement of cognitive dynamics during video watching through event-related potentials (ERPs) and oscillations (EROs). Cogn Neurodyn 13(6):503–512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-019-09544-x
Fu S, Chen Y, Smith S, Iversen S, Matthews PM (2002) Effects of word form on brain processing of written Chinese. Neuroimage 17:1538–1548. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2002.1155
Graybiel AM (1998) The basal ganglia and chunking of action repertoires. Neurobiol Learn Mem 70(1):119–136. https://doi.org/10.1006/nlme.1998.3843
Gobet F, Lane PCR (2012) Chunking mechanisms and learning. Encyclopedia of the sciences of learning. Springer, New York
Gobet F, Lane PCR, Croker S, Cheng PC-H, Jones G, Oliver I, Pine JM (2001) Chunking mechanisms in human learning. Trends Cogn Sci 5(6):236–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01662-4
Harris IM, Egan GF, Sonkkila C, Tochon-Danguy HJ, Paxinos G, Watson JD (2000) Selective right parietal lobe activation during mental rotation: a parametric PET study. Brain 123(Pt 1):65–73. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/123.1.65
Harris IM, Miniussi C (2003) Parietal lobe contribution to mental rotation demonstrated with rTMS. J Cogn Neurosci 15(3):315–323. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892903321593054
Huang F, Tang S, Sun P, Luo J (2018) Neural correlates of novelty and appropriateness processing in externally induced constraint relaxation. NeuroImage 172:381–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.070
Huang F, Fan J, Luo J (2015) The neural basis of novelty and appropriateness in processing of creative chunk decomposition. Neuroimage 113:122–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.030
Kershaw TC, Ohlsson S (2004) Multiple causes of difficulty in insight: the case of the nine-dot problem. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 30(1):3–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.30.1.3
Khajehpour H, Mohagheghian F, Ekhtiari H, Makkiabadi B, Harirchian MH (2019) Computer-aided classifying and characterizing of methamphetamine use disorder using resting-state EEG. Cogn Neurodyn 13(6):519–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-019-09550-z
Knoblich G, Ohlsson S, Haider H, Rhenius D (1999) Constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition in insight problem solving. J Exp Psychol-Learn Memory Cogn 25(6):1534–1555. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.25.6.1534
Knoblich G, Ohlsson S, Raney GE (2001) An eye movement study of insight problem solving. Memory Cogn 29(7):1000–1009. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195762
Kounios J, Beeman M (2014) The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Annu Rev Psychol 65(1):71–93. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115154
Kutas M, Hillyard SA (1980) Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity. Science 207(4427):203–205. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7350657
Luchins AS (1942) Mechanization in problem solving—the effect of Einstellung. Psychol Monogr 54:1–95. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093502
Luo J, Niki K, Knoblich G (2006) Perceptual contributions to problem solving: chunk decomposition of Chinese characters. Brain Res Bull 70:430–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2006.07.005
Macgregor JN, Cunningham JB (2009) The effects of number and level of restructuring in insight problem solving. J Probl Solving 2(2):130–141. https://doi.org/10.7771/1932-6246.1062
Metcalfe J (1986) Feeling of knowing in memory and problem solving. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cognit 12:288–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.12.2.288
Miller GA (1956) The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychol Rev 63(2):81–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043158
Osterhout L, Holcomb PJ (1992) Event-related brain potentials elicited by syntactic anomaly. J Mem Lang 31(6):785–806. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-596X(92)90039-Z
Öllinger M, Jones G, Faber AH, Knoblich G (2013) Cognitive mechanisms of insight: the role of heuristics and representational change in solving the eight-coin problem. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 39(3):931–939. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029194
Pitts MA, Martinez A, Stalmaster C, Nerger JL, Hillyard SA (2009) Neural generators of ERPs linked with necker cube reversals. Psychophysiology 46(4):694–702. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00822.x
Salvi C, Bricolo E, Kounios J, Bowden E, Beeman M (2016) Insight solutions are correct more often than analytic solutions. Think Reason 22(4):443–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2016.1141798
Smith SM (1995) Getting into and out of mental ruts: a theory of fixation, incubation, and insight. In: Sternberg RJ, Davidson JE (eds) The nature of insight. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 229–251
Tan LH, Liu HL, Perfetti CA, Spinks JA, Fox PT, Gao JH (2001) The neural system underlying Chinese logograph reading. Neuroimage 13:836–846. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20134
Tang X, Pang J, Nie QY, Conci M, Luo J, Luo J (2016) Probing the cognitive mechanism of mental representational change during chunk decomposition: a parametric fMRI study. Cereb Cortex 26(7):2991–2999. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhv11
Wu L, Knoblich G, Wei G, Luo J (2009) How perceptual processes help to generate new meaning: An EEG study of chunk decomposition in Chinese characters. Brain Res 1296:104–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2009.08.023
Wu L, Knoblich G, Luo J (2013) The role of chunk tightness and chunk familiarity in problem solving: Evidence from ERPs and FMRI. Hum Brain Mapp 34(5):1173–1186. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21501
Zhang ZL, Luo Y, Wang CL, Warren CM, Xia Q, Xing Q, Cao BH, Lei Y, Li H (2019) Identification and transformation difficulty in problem solving: Electrophysiological evidence from chunk decomposition. Biol Psychol 143:10–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.02.004
Zhang ZL, Yang K, Warren CM, Zhao G, Li P, Lei Y, Li H (2015) The influence of element type and crossed relation on the difficulty of chunk decomposition. Front Psychol 6:1025. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01025
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (Grant No. 18YJC190033).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declared that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Z., Lu, Z., Warren, C.M. et al. The late parietal event-related potential component is hierarchically sensitive to chunk tightness during chunk decomposition. Cogn Neurodyn 14, 501–508 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-020-09590-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-020-09590-w