Insight

[1] Sudden sickening realisations often identify a problem rather than solving it, so Uh-oh rather than Aha moments are seen in negative insight.

[6] Insight was first studied by Gestalt psychology, in the early part of the 20th century, during the search for an alternative to associationism and the associationistic view of learning.

[8] Generally, methodological approaches to the study of insight in the laboratory involve presenting participants with problems and puzzles that cannot be solved in a conventional or logical manner.

[14] Self-reported positive affect of participants increased insight before and during the solving of a problem,[15] as indicated by differing brain activity patterns[clarification needed].

[14] People experiencing anxiety showed the opposite effect, and solved fewer problems by insight.

[18] Differences in brain activation in the left and right hemisphere seem to be indicative of insight versus non-insight solutions.

[19] fMRI and EEG scans of participants completing RATs demonstrated particular brain activity corresponding to problems solved by insight.

This conclusion has been supported also by eye-tracking data that shows an increased eye blink duration and frequency when people solve problems via insight.

[20] Groups typically perform better on insight problems (in the form of rebus puzzles with either helpful or unhelpful clues) than individuals.

[21] Participants who ranked lower on emotionality and higher on openness to experience performed better on insight problems.

[25] Insights that occur in the field are typically reported to be associated with a sudden "change in understanding" and with "seeing connections and contradictions" in the problem.

[25] Other studies used online questionnaires to explore insight outside of the laboratory,[26][2] verifying the notion that insight often happens in situations such as in the shower,[23] and echoing the idea that creative ideas occur in situations where divergent thought is more likely, sometimes called the Three "B"s of Creativity, in Bed, on the Bus, or in the Bath.

In 1917, Wolfgang Köhler published his book The Mentality of Apes, having studied primates on the island of Tenerife for six years.

In one of his experiments, apes were presented with an insight problem that required the use of objects in new and original ways, in order to win a prize (usually, some kind of food).

[35] Psychiatric insight favourably predicts outcomes in[clarification needed] cognitive behavioural therapy for people with psychosis.

[37] The Pali word for "insight" is vipassana, which has been adopted as the name of a variety of Buddhist mindfulness meditation.

Research indicates that mindfulness meditation facilitates solving of insight problems with dosage of 20 minutes.