A contrary-based heuristic in insight problem solving: the role of routine and non-routine processes

This presentation concerns how contraries support routine and non-routine processes used to solve visuo-spatial insight problems which (like creative problems) are considered non-routine problems (e.g. Gilhooly et al., 2015). In particular, we will present a number of studies which investigate whether providing implicit hints or explicit training suggesting a manipulation of the mental representation of the problem in terms of contraries (high-low, inside-outside etc.) enhances problem solving abilities (Bianchi et al., submitted; Branchini et al., 2015, 2016). In both conditions, the participants in the studies were advised to analyze the spatial features of the problems and evoke their corresponding opposites before embarking on the search for the solution. The results demonstrate that advising people to use contraries works better in the training condition: success rates were higher and the participants found the solution more easily. These findings are discussed in relation to the ongoing debate on the role of routine and non-routine processes (Gilhooly et al., 2015) and the interplay between Type 1 and Type 2 processes (Evans & Stanovich, 2013; Weisberg, 2015) in insight problem solving.