CogLab 9 – Questions
1. Comparing Solution Pathways and Restructuring (Drawing on Gestalt and Insight
Concepts)
Select one problem your group solved using insight (e.g., Marsha/Marjorie, or Light Bulb) and
contrast it with a problem solved using a more noninsight (gradual) process (e.g., the Anagrams
or calculating the sum of 1 to 100). Based on your group’s discussion, describe the difference in
your subjective "feelings of knowing" (or warmth judgments) for the two types of problems in
the moments leading up to the solution. Explain how the need for restructuring distinguishes the
insight problem from the noninsight problem. What specific constraint or representation did your
group have to break to achieve the insight solution?
2. Analyzing Fixedness and Mental Set in Process
Find a small, commonplace object in your environment. Try to choose quickly and don’t
overthink your selection. Set a timer for 5 minutes. During this time, write as many uses for your
object as you can. Try to think beyond its present function. What are all the ways you could use
this object? Then, for two additional minutes, write uses for your object, changing whatever laws
of physics you wish. What if there were no gravity? Atoms were permeable? Let your
imagination run wild…
Explain the cognitive function of the constraint you overcame. How does overcoming functional
fixedness or a mental set demonstrate the cognitive flexibility required for creative thinking?
3. Applying Means-End Analysis to a Complex Problem
The Information-Processing Approach defines problem-solving using terms like Initial state,
Goal state, Operators, and Problem space. Means-End Analysis involves establishing subgoals to
reduce the difference between the initial and goal states.
Choose a problem from the handout that required multiple deliberate steps (e.g., the Coin
Weighing Problem or the Bookworm Problem) and apply Means-End Analysis:
Clearly define the Initial State, the Goal State, and the primary Obstacle.
Identify at least three crucial Subgoals that your group had to achieve sequentially.
Explain how one of these subgoals might have temporarily seemed to increase the distance to the
goal (i.e., moving away from the final solution) but was ultimately necessary to free up a future
step, illustrating a key feature of subgoals.
4. Creative Cognition and Idea Generation
Creativity involves innovative thinking, novel ideas, and new connections, often utilizing
divergent thinking, as in generating a large number of potential "solutions".
During the CogLab, you had to break constraints (as in the Marriage Problem) or consider non-
traditional uses (as in the Light Bulb Problem). How did your group's reliance on divergent
thinking help generate the ultimate solution, particularly when the initial, obvious approaches
failed? The sources mention incubation (taking time out) and volitional daydreaming can
contribute to creative thinking, associated with the Default Mode Network (DMN). If your group
got stuck on a particularly difficult riddle (like the Coin Weighing problem), explain how a
cognitive psychologist might suggest using incubation to encourage the sudden appearance of
preinventive forms or novel connections necessary for the solution.