In this paper, we outline a new embodied and real-time measure of insight using a dynamometer that we believe captures the key features of an insight experience: its cognitive qualities (sudden and unexpected) as well as its affective or phenomenological quality (the Aha experience). Although considerable progress has been made, there remain challenges to effectively working with insight experiences in laboratory settings. Despite the ephemeral character of insight, researchers have been collecting data and pursuing a scientific explanation for such “sudden knowing” experiences for at least the past century (Köhler, 1921 Sternberg & Davidson, 1994). This challenge is extant for the sudden feeling of insight, an enigmatic phenomenon where a solution to a problem, or a new idea, appears in the mind of its pursuer as if “out of nowhere”, immediately filling them with certainty about its truthfulness and value (Schooler & Melcher, 2009). The challenge of understanding these phenomena – particularly in pursuing them scientifically – often lies in their subjective and ephemeral nature. The psychological phenomena that interest humans the most are often deeply and fundamentally subjective take for example, happiness, love, meaning, or consciousness. We discuss the findings in light of a recent theoretical account of how feelings of insight may act as a heuristic to select ideas from the stream of consciousness. We suggest that the dynamometer complements previous measures by (1) simultaneously capturing both process and feeling in real-time, (2) highlights the value of measuring Aha moments on a continuum of intensity, and (3) firmly establishes that the impulsive feeling of Aha can carry information about the veracity of an idea. Intriguingly, this unintentional embodiment further predicted the accuracy of solutions. We also found that the intensity of the insight experience further predicted the accuracy of solutions and participants naturally embodied the intensity of their insight experiences by squeezing the dynamometer more tightly. Consistent with recent work, we find a strong positive relationship between Aha moments and accuracy for problems that demand implicit processing. In this preregistered experiment, we aim to validate a novel visceral and continuous measure of insight problem solving and to test whether real-time and embodied feelings of insight can predict correct solutions.
Insight experiences are sudden, persuasive, and can accompany valuable new ideas in science and art.
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