Insight and Creativity in Problem Solving

There has been an upsurge of research aimed at removing the mystery surrounding insight and creative thinking processes in problem solving. Chapters in this volume converge on a nuanced 'dual-process' view of insight and creative thinking. It was originally published as a special issue of Thinking and Reasoning.

Kenneth J. Gilhooly is Research Professor of Quantitative Gerontology at Brunel University, UK and Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Linden J. Ball is Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Dean of Psychology at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Laura Macchi is Professor of Psychology of Thinking and Decision Making in the Department of Psychology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.

Preface 1. Insight and creative thinking processes: Routine and special 2. Toward an integrated theory of insight in problem solving 3. The shifting sands of creative thinking: Connections to dual-process theory 4. Reasoned connections: A dual-process perspective on creative thought 5. When distraction helps: Evidence that concurrent articulation and irrelevant speech can facilitate insight problem solving 6. A sketch is not enough: Dynamic external support increases creative insight on a guided synthesis task 7. Incubation and cueing effects in problem-solving: Set aside the difficult problems but focus on the easy ones 8. Incubation and suppression processes in creative problem solving 9. When analytic thought is challenged by a misunderstanding