When was the last time you had a eureka! or an aha! moment? When after struggling to find a solution to a
difficult problem the answer dawned on you in a moment of clarity like a light
switching on in your head? Perhaps you were trying to figure out how to resolve
a sticky interpersonal dilemma or solve a challenging problem at work. Maybe
you were trying to find the solution to 32-across in the Sunday New York Times
crossword. Psychologists refer to these sorts of problems that lack a clear
solution and require a shift in perspective to be solved as insight problems.
If you ever wished you could be more insightful and creative in solving
problems, recent research suggests that maybe you can be.
In psychology research people’s insight
problem-solving abilities are usually assessed by asking them to find solutions
to problems such as this: A prisoner was attempting to escape from a tower.
He found a rope in his cell that was half as long enough to permit him to reach
the ground safely. He divided the rope in half, tied the two parts together,
and escaped. How could he have done this? Solving this and other insight
problems requires more than just linear and logical thought and standard
intelligence. It also requires the ability to reconsider how the problem is
framed i.e. to “think outside the box” and consider multiple possible approaches
to finding a solution. Once the problem is framed correctly, the solution pops
out suddenly, creating the eureka or aha effect: the feeling the
answer was right under one’s nose all along.
So how might we become more creative
and insightful when faced with life’s puzzles? Two recently published studies
in the journal Consciousness and Cognition show that mindfulness may
help.
The first study showed that people with
higher baseline levels of mindfulness (i.e. people who scored higher on a
mindfulness questionnaire) had better scores on tests of insight
problem-solving ability. This effect was not due to improved mood or the
ability to solve other sorts (non-insight) of problems better. The second study
provided evidence for a possible causal association between mindfulness and
insight problem-solving ability and suggests that insight problem-solving
abilities can be developed. This study showed that after a brief 10-minute
mindfulness training session in which participants to bring non-judgmental
awareness to bodily sensations, people’s performance on insight problems
improved. They were able to solve more problems like the prisoner’s escape
problem but not more non-insight problems.
So why might mindfulness help people
solve insight problems? There are several possible reasons. One may be that
when we practice mindfulness we practice beginner’s mind: seeing things
with bare attention as if for the first time. When we are not mindful we may be
constrained (or imprisoned!) by habitual ways of perceiving events in the world
around us based on past experience. Usually when we divide a rope in half we
cut it into two even pieces. Unless someone points out that an alternative is
possible it’s easy become mentally trapped in the perspective that this is the
only way to divide a rope! However, this habitual response will not free the
prisoner. Solving an insight problem requires seeing things in a new way to
generate a non-habitual response. If we were to see the rope with a beginner’s
mind we might come to the realization that there is more than one way to divide
a rope. Mindfulness may help us solve insight problems because it may
allow us to “forget at the right time” and let go of our habitual ideas about
how things are and how things can be done. Through practicing mindful awareness
of the present moment we may allow become aware of a wider range of
possibilities and enhance our creativity and insight problem-solving abilities.
For example we may become aware of the possibility of unraveling the rope lengthwise and tying
the remaining strands together. Similarly, bringing beginner’s mind to an
interpersonal dilemma or a problem at work and practicing non-judgmental
awareness of our thoughts and feelings about the situation may improve our perception
and discernment of problem components and allow us to flexibly and creatively
experiment with new ways of perceiving the situation (i.e. reframing). In this
way regular mindfulness practice may not only improve our ability to solve tricky
riddles but also to solve real-life insight problems.
Ostafin, B.D.
& Kassman, K.T. (2012). Stepping out of history: Mindfulness improves
insight problem solving. Conciousness and
Cognition, 21 (2), 1031- 1036.
No comments:
Post a Comment