How many times have we gotten brilliant ideas randomly and suddenly? How many times have we gotten our ‘Eureka’ moments out of the blue?
We have all been subject to these moments of clarity and creativity. These ‘a-ha’ moments go through mental processes before finally hitting us.
So, what is Insight Learning?
Insight learning is a process wherein there is the sudden arrival of the solution to a problem. It is referred to as a process because it entails the learner to step away from the situation and carefully comprehend the various approaches towards it. It is slightly different from trial and error because it requires a deeper understanding of the problem to arrive at the solution.
Interestingly, this form of learning is seen not only in humans but also in other animals. It was first recorded in chimpanzees (Kohler’s experiment on Sultan). These learners use patterns, relations to connect and create relationships with the data presented to them. There isn’t a solid science behind insight learning, these epiphanies can happen randomly, but after studying the process, psychologists have found some basic structure to it.
The four stages to Insight Learning as described by psychologists are;
- Preparation
The problem is presented to you. How you approach the problem and what you understand by it. All the data and material is before you, and you have to start making connections. This is the stage where people start getting frustrated for not being able to arrive at a conclusion. Even though everything is in front of you, the solution still seems far off. This is when you must keep patience and develop a logical approach towards the answer.
2. Incubation
This stage occurs when you temporarily ‘give up ’ on coming up with a solution. However, as the name suggests, you are just ‘incubating’ the problem. Although you might have started working on other projects as well, your mind is still subconsciously working to come up with a solution for the problem. You are attempting to make connections and come up with plausible solutions.
3. Insight
The satisfying stage of finally arriving at a solution. This is your ‘a-ha’ or ‘eureka’ moment when you are able to make all the right connections with all the information that was given to you. This insight that you get seems sudden, but your brain has been working to come up with it since the problem is first presented.
4. Verification
This last step is testing out your theory and seeing if it works for your problem. You test out the epiphany which hit you, and hopefully, it works well. This is a brilliant learning experience, as coming up with solutions would definitely help with future problems.
Unlike some other forms of learning, insight learning does not involve continuous trial and error. One of the main characteristics of insight learning is accessing the situation. This is a pre-solution period wherein intense methods of research are involved. The solution isn’t arrived at by step-by-step problem solving, but a sudden epiphany strikes. This method also requires a reasonable amount of time to process the problem and to come up with the necessary solution.
This abrupt realisation of a problem is actually not that sudden; our brain is constantly trying to connect with the data presented. This flash of understanding has quite common examples in our daily lives too. For example, when a writer is going through writer’s block for quite some time, sudden inspiration can strike at random times.
Insight learning involves the learner’s constant growing experience and knowledge. In Tolman’s experiment with mice trapped in a maze, he noticed that the mice learnt from previous experience and developed sudden insight to get out of the maze.
The educational implications of Insight learning are;
- An integrated curriculum that would connect different subjects and topics
- Approaching the problem as a whole is analysed to come up with a solution
- Importance of transfer of previous knowledge and experience to solve new problems
- Intelligent learning as the base of learning, instead of focusing more on rote learning
- Developing a superior problem-solving approach and higher mental faculties
Several of the famous inventions and discoveries are actually a result of insight learning. So the next time you come up with a bright new solution to your problem, you’ll know exactly how you came up with it!
Anushka Das, content writer
