Training Insightful Problem Solving: Effects of Realistic and Puzzle-Like Contexts

Attempts to train people to be more insightful problem solvers have met with mixed success. This article reports the results of a controlled investigation on the effects of training with 40 participants who were equally divided into training and control conditions. Training consisted of 10 minutes of instruction and practice at avoiding or responding to the impasses that arise in insight problems. All participants were then tested on three types of problem, half of them receiving the problems in an artificial puzzle-like format, and half received the same problems set in a more realistic context. The results extended previous findings by indicating an impact of training on a range of puzzle-like problems, but not on the more realistic versions of problems, where performance with or without training was as good as that of puzzle-like problems after training. Future research will investigate whether the training procedure can be adapted to be effective with real-like problems and will examine the implications for training in the field.