Lv Kai
School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China,
Mem Cognit. 2015 Jul;43(5):709-22. doi: 10.3758/s13421-014-0498-7.
In this article, the involvement of working memory capacity and inhibition functions in different phases of insight problem solving is investigated, by employing a method of separating the different phases of insight problem solving directly, on the basis of the subjects' oral reports. Two experiments are described. In Experiment 1, 87 subjects were administered a series of working memory span tasks and inhibition tasks, as well as a verbal insight problem. In Experiment 2, 119 subjects were administered the same working memory span tasks and inhibition tasks as in the first experiment, as well as a spatial insight problem. Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, the insight problem-solving process can be divided into several relatively independent phases, including an initial searching phase and a restructuring phase. Second, executive functions, as measured by working memory capacity, influence mainly the initial searching phase, rather than the restructuring phase. Third, inhibition functions play important but complex roles in restructuring, and sometimes could influence restructuring in contradictory ways simultaneously. The implications and value of this study are discussed further.
在本文中，通过采用一种基于受试者口头报告直接分离顿悟问题解决不同阶段的方法，研究了工作记忆容量和抑制功能在顿悟问题解决不同阶段中的作用。文中描述了两个实验。在实验1中，87名受试者接受了一系列工作记忆广度任务、抑制任务以及一个言语顿悟问题。在实验2中，119名受试者接受了与第一个实验相同的工作记忆广度任务和抑制任务，以及一个空间顿悟问题。从这项研究中可以得出几个结论。第一，顿悟问题解决过程可以分为几个相对独立的阶段，包括初始搜索阶段和重组阶段。第二，以工作记忆容量衡量的执行功能主要影响初始搜索阶段，而非重组阶段。第三，抑制功能在重组中起着重要但复杂的作用，有时可能同时以相互矛盾的方式影响重组。本文进一步讨论了这项研究的意义和价值。
