Incubation and the persistence of fixation in problem solving.
@article{Smith1991IncubationAT, title={Incubation and the persistence of fixation in problem solving.}, author={S. M. Smith and S. E. Blankenship}, journal={The American journal of psychology}, year={1991}, volume={104 1}, pages={ 61-87 } }
Extra work on unsolved problems may lead to more improvement if the new work is delayed rather than undertaken immediately after initial solution attempts. Such a result constitutes incubation in problem solving. "Unconscious work" on a problem, commonly assumed to be responsible for incubation effects, may not be necessary to observe the phenomenon. We hypothesize that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with…
386 Citations
Partly versus Completely Out of Your Mind: Effects of Incubation and Distraction on Resolving Fixation
- Psychology
- 2009
Incubation has long been proposed as a mechanism in creative problem solving (Wallas, 1926). A new trial-by-trial method for observing incubation effects was used to compare the forgetting fixation…
Interrupted: The roles of distributed effort and incubation in preventing fixation and generating problem solutions
- PsychologyMemory & cognition
- 2017
The experiments in this article offer support for the occurrence of spreading activation during incubation, and conclude that distributed effort facilitates problem solving, most likely via overcoming fixation.
Incubation Provides Relief from Artificial Fixation in Problem Solving
- Psychology
- 2012
An incubation effect occurs when taking a break from a problem helps solvers arrive at the correct solution more often than working on it continuously. The forgetting-fixation account, a popular…
Individual and group performance on insight problems: The effects of experimentally induced fixation
- Psychology
- 2010
Recent research has shown that the benefits associated with incubation periods during individual problem solving can be explained in terms of forgetting the material or of any strategy that serves to…
Incubation benefits only after people have been misdirected
- PsychologyMemory & cognition
- 2007
This work investigated three potential accounts of incubation in retrieval and search problems (subconscious work, spreading activation, and fixation forgetting) with the help of a large Internet-based participant pool.
Escaping mental fixation: Incubation and inhibition in creative problem solving
- PsychologyMemory
- 2014
This work tested the hypothesis that incubation reduces the need for inhibition by reducing the extent to which problem solvers suffer fixation by inserting an incubation period between two 30-second problem-solving attempts.
Examining Tasks that Facilitate the Experience of Incubation While Problem-Solving.
- Psychology, Education
- 2004
The three studies presented here contrasted the problem-solving outcomes of university students when a break was provided or not provided during a problem-solving session. In addition, two studies…
Insight Follows Incubation In The Compound Remote Associates Task
- PsychologyCogSci
- 2013
It is found that initial problem fixation did not predict the improvement in problem-solving after incubation and that participants were more likely to report insight on problems solved after incubations, leading to a mind-set shift to a more unconscious problem-Solving strategy involving semantic integration.
Exploring Incubation Effects on Insight Problem-Solving with Computer]based Tasks
- Psychology
- 2015
IntroductionWhen students are confronted with an initial failure while trying to solve a problem, they may repeat their ineffective problem-solving approach again and again in vain. In this…
Problem Variables that Promote Incubation Effects.
- Psychology
- 2004
Three studies sought to determine whether incubation effects could be reliably generated in a problem-solving task. Experimental variables manipulated were the duration of the interval between two…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 31 REFERENCES
Mechanisms of Incubation in Creative Problem Solving.
- Psychology
- 1976
Subjects worked on a problem, engaged in an intervening activity, and then resumed work on the problem. Different intervening activities represented various mechanisms that might produce incubation…
Activation and metacognition of inaccessible stored information: potential bases for incubation effects in problem solving.
- PsychologyJournal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition
- 1987
It appears that unsuccessful attempts to retrieve inaccessible stored information prime the later recognition of the information through a process of spreading activation.
Effects of hints and interpolated activity on solution of an insight problem
- Psychology
- 1972
Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of hints and interpolated activity on Ss’ behavior in trying to solve the hatrack problem. Results indicated that the “ceiling hint” was more…
Interaction of Ability Level and Interpolated Activity (Opportunity for Incubation) in Human Problem Solving
- Psychology
- 1969
Performance on a functional fixedness problem was investigated under conditions of continuous work on the problem vs interpolation of unrelated activity, and in Ss of low vs high problem-solving…
The associative basis of the creative process.
- PsychologyPsychological review
- 1962
An associative interpretation of the process of creative thinking is presented and three ways in which creative solutions may be achieved are indicated—serendipity, similarity, and mediation.
The Use of Analogies and Incubation in Obtaining Insights in Creative Problem Solving
- Physics
- 1969
The invention comprises a lead-through for electric cables and the like which is fire-proof, gas-proof, and liquid-proof at a predetermined temperature. The cables extend through an opening in a…