"In the early 1920s, in Tenerife, German Gestalt psychologist Wolfgang Köhler was studying how chimpanzees solved problems. In one experiment, he hung a banana from the ceiling, out of reach for the animals. At first, the apes tried their usual approach of jumping for the fruit. After repeated failures, one chimpanzee, Sultan, sat quietly in the corner - as if deliberating - before suddenly, stacking nearby boxes into a tower, climbing up, and grabbing the banana. Eureka!"
"In psychology, insight is often defined as "a sudden change in or the formation of a concept or other type of knowledge representation, often leading to the solution of a problem" (Kounios & Beeman, 2014). In our day-to-day lives, we recognize this sudden realization, that enigmatically arises from some mental reorganization, by its distinct emotional signature - the joy, the rush, the relief of the Aha! moment (Danek & Wiley, 2017)."
"Knowledgeable as they may be, unlike us, "machines cannot experience the emotions or motivation that accompany Aha! moments," she says. So, does studying insight bring about more Aha! moments? "Not really," Danek admits, "I just notice them more." In fact, she cautions against anyone who claims to have cracked the code of insight. There are no clear techniques, Danek insists, only some hints from research."
An early Tenerife experiment showed a chimp stacking boxes to reach a banana, illustrating animal insight. Insight is a sudden change or formation of a concept or knowledge representation that often leads to problem solutions. Everyday Aha! moments arise from mental reorganization and carry distinctive emotions such as joy, rush, and relief. Humans experience motivation and emotion alongside insight, whereas machines cannot experience those states. Studying insight tends to increase awareness of Aha! moments rather than produce them. No clear techniques reliably induce insight, though research offers some suggestive hints. Insight involves at least two main components.
Read at Psychology Today
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