Verbal insight revisited – Dissociable neurocognitive processes underlying solutions accompanied by an AHA! experience with and without prior restructuring

In this article, we investigate insight problem solving by exploring the subjective AHA! experience as a function of restructuring of a problem. It has long been assumed that the AHA! experience is the direct consequence of restructuring. However, is this assumption justified?We will argue that a) the AHA! experience does not always result from prior restructuring and that b) solutions with accompanied AHA! do not underlie a single neurocognitive process. In this regard, we use a modified compound remote associates (CRA) paradigm designed to experimentally dissociate restructuring from the AHA! experience. Results indicate that solutions accompanied by an AHA! are often found also in absence of restructuring. This finding is explained by proposing distinct CRA solution processes that differentiate between AHA! solutions with and without restructuring. We predict that solutions with accompanied AHA! experience differ in their behavioral, neural and eye-tracking related signature as a function of restructuring. The results mostly support these predictions. These findings have implications for insight research: First, by only measuring the subjective AHA! experience especially using CRAs it cannot be implied anymore that restructuring has occurred. Second, it is vital to experimentally separate the different components of insight to better understand its underlying diverse neurocognitive processes.