Insight

Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings:

a piece of information
the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively (called in Greek)
an introspection
the power of acute observation and deduction, discernment, and perception, called intellection or
an understanding of cause and effect based on the identification of relationships and behaviors within a model, system, context, or scenario (see artificial intelligence)

An insight that manifests itself suddenly, such as understanding how to solve a difficult problem, is sometimes called by the German word . The term was coined by the German psychologist and theoretical linguist Karl Bühler. It is also known as an epiphany, eureka moment, or (for crossword solvers) the penny dropping moment (PDM). Sudden sickening realisations often identify a problem rather than solving it, so Uh-oh rather than Aha moments are seen in negative insight. A further example of negative insight is chagrin which is annoyance at the obviousness of a solution that was missed up until the (perhaps too late) point of insight, an example of this being Homer Simpson's catchphrase exclamation, D'oh!.

Psychology

thumb|The [[candle problem by Karl Duncker asks how a candle might be affixed to a wall using only matches and tacks It is the sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based on trial and error. Solutions via insight have been proven to be more accurate than non-insight solutions. Some proposed potential mechanisms for insight include: suddenly seeing the problem in a new way, connecting the problem to another relevant problem/solution pair, releasing past experiences that are blocking the solution, or seeing problem in a larger, coherent context. The solution requires the participants to empty the box of tacks, set the candle inside the box, tack the box to the wall, and light the candle with the matches.

Spatial ability

The second type of insight problem requires spatial ability to solve. An example is the "Nine-dot problem"

Using verbal ability

The third and final type of problem requires verbal ability to solve. An example is the Remote Associates Test (RAT), RAT are often used in experiments, because they can be solved both with and without insight.

Specific results

Versus non-insight problems

Two clusters of problems, those solvable by insight and those not requiring insight to solve, have been observed. A person's cognitive flexibility, fluency, and vocabulary ability are predictive of performance on insight problems, but not on non-insight problems.

Emotion

People in a better mood are more likely to solve problems using insight. Self-reported positive affect of participants increased insight before and during the solving of a problem, .

Incubation

Using a geometric and spatial insight problem, it was found that providing participants with breaks improved their performance when compared to participants who did not receive a break. However, the length of incubation between problems did not matter. Thus, participants' performance on insight problems improved just as much with a short break (4 minutes) as it did with a long break (12 minutes). People were initially trained on insight problems. Following training, one group was tested on the insight problems after sleeping for eight hours at night, one group was tested after staying awake all night, and one group was tested after staying awake all day. Those that slept performed twice as well on the insight problems than those who stayed awake. Presenting RATs either to the left or right visual field, it was shown that participants having solved the problem with insight were more likely to have been shown the RAT on the left visual field, indicating right hemisphere processing. This provides evidence that the right hemisphere plays a special role in insight.

Group insight

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

thumb|left|Example of a rebus puzzle. Answer: man overboard.

Additionally, while incubation improves insight performance for individuals, it improves insight performance for groups even more.

Higher intelligence (higher IQ) is associated with better performance on insight problems. However, those of lower intelligence benefit more than those of higher intelligence from being provided with cues and hints for insight problems.

Metacognition

People are poorer at predicting their own metacognition for insight problems, than for non-insight problems. People were asked to indicate how "hot" or "cold" to a solution they felt. Generally, they were able to predict this fairly well for non-insight problems, but not for insight problems. 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. A more recent study suggested that elephants might also experience insight, showing that a young male elephant was able to identify and move a large cube under food that was out of reach so that he could stand on it to get the reward.

Theories

There are a number of theories about insight; no single theory dominates interpretation. Specifically, insight involves three processes that require intelligence to apply them to problems:

The person prepares to solve a problem.
The person incubates on the problem, which encompasses trial-and-error, etc.
The insight occurs, and the solution is illuminated.
The verification of the solution to the problem is experienced.

Since this model was proposed, other similar models have been explored that contain two or three similar stages. This form of insight has multiple dimensions, such as recognizing the need for treatment, and recognizing consequences of one's behavior as stemming from an illness. A person with very poor recognition or acknowledgment is referred to as having "poor insight" or "lack of insight". The most extreme form is anosognosia, the total absence of insight into one's own mental illness. Mental illnesses are associated with a variety of levels of insight. For example, people with obsessive compulsive disorder and various phobias tend to have relatively good insight that they have a problem and that their thoughts and/or actions are unreasonable, although they feel compelled to carry out the thoughts and actions regardless. Patients with schizophrenia, and various psychotic conditions tend to have very poor awareness that anything is wrong with them.

Psychiatric insight can be broken into a number of dimensions. Clinical insight, awareness of one's own disease and associated symptoms, is the oldest formulation. Aaron Beck et al. published a Beck cognitive insight scale (BCIS) in 2004, measuring the new concept of cognitive insight, that is, one's ability to recognize and distance oneself from distorted beliefs, and to re-evaluate and update existing beliefs. Finally, the concept of introspective accuracy, or one's ability to assess their own skills and capabilities, was developed from self-assessment questionnaire research in the 2000s.

Good cognitive insight predicts favorable outcomes in cognitive behavioural therapy for people with psychosis. On the other hand, for people with schizophrenia, good cognitive insight is associated with higher self-stigma, higher insight into treatment, and lower medication compliance. It is not associated with a change in quality-of-life. Among people with schizophrenia, introspective accuracy is a very powerful predictor for functional outcomes.

Spirituality

The Pali word for "insight" is , 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.

Similar concepts in Zen Buddhism are and .