Feeling Stumped: Investigating Dimensions of Impasse

Traditionally insight occurs after an impasse, that is when a problem solver is aware that she does not have the right answer but a new one does not come to mind. This impasse is relieved by a sudden restructuring of the problem to a more helpful one which then leads to a feeling of insight. More recently the role of impasse has been downplayed because qualitative empirical data suggest that it is not an essential part of experiencing insight however this fails to explain what a cognitive state of repeated failure looks like. The current research aimed to disentangle the different dimensions of impasse along motivation lines and shows across two studies that while the feeling of being stuck is a negative predictor of levels of insight, the feeling of being challenged significantly positively predicts insight. These results form the preliminary basis of understanding the phenomenology of impasse and how it interacts with motivational states.