Investigation of insight with magic tricks

This thesis proposes a new approach to investigate insight problem
solving. Introducing magic tricks as a problem solving task, we
asked participants to find out the secret method used by the
magician to create the magic effect. Based on the theoretical
framework of the representational change theory, we argue that
magic tricks are ideally suited to investigate insight because
similar to established insight tasks like puzzles, observers’ prior
knowledge activates constraints. In order to see through the magic
trick, the constraints must be overcome by changing the problem
representation. The aim of the present work is threefold: First, we
set out to provide a proof of concept for this novel paradigm by
demonstrating that it is actually possible for observers to gain
insight into the magician’s secret method and that this can be
experienced as a sudden, insightful solution. We therefore aimed at
showing that magic tricks can trigger insightful solutions that are
accompanied by an Aha! experience. The proposed paradigm could be a
useful contribution to the field of insight research where new
stimuli beyond traditional puzzle approaches are sorely needed.
Second, the present work is aimed at contributing to a better
understanding of the subjective Aha! experience that is currently
often relied on as important classification criterion in
neuroscientific studies of insight, yet remains conceptually vague.
The new task will therefore be used to further elucidate the
phenomenology of the Aha! experience by assessing participants’
individual solving experiences. As a third question, we
investigated the influence of insight on memory. A positive impact
of insight on subsequent solution recall is often implicitly
assumed, because the representational change underlying insightful
solutions is assumed to facilitate the retention of solution
knowledge, yet this was never tested. A stimulus set of magic
tricks was developed in collaboration with a professional magician,
covering a large range of different magic effects and methods.
After recording the tricks in a standardized theatre setting, pilot
studies were run on 45 participants to identify appropriate tricks
and to ensure that they were understandable, surprising and
difficult. In the main experiment, 50 participants watched the
final set of 34 magic tricks, with the task of trying to figure out
how the trick was accomplished. Each trick was presented up to
three times. Upon solving the trick, participants had to indicate
whether they had found the solution through sudden insight (i.e.
with an Aha! experience) or not. Furthermore, we obtained a
detailed characterization of the Aha! experience by asking
participants for a comprehensive quantitative (ratings on a visual
analogue scale with fixed dimensions) and qualitative evaluation
(free self-reports) which was repeated after 14 days to control for
its reliability. At that time, participants were also required to
perform a recall of their solutions. We found that 49% of all magic
tricks could be solved and specifically, that insightful solutions
were elicited in 41.1% of solved trials. In comparison with
noninsight solutions, insightful solutions (brought about by
representational change) were more likely to be correct and reached
earlier. Quantitative evaluations of individual Aha! experiences
turned out to be highly reliable since they remained identical
across the time span of 14 days. Qualitatively, participants
reported more emotional than cognitive aspects. This primacy of
positive emotions was found in qualitative as well as in
quantitative evaluations, although two different methods were used.
We also found that experiencing insight leads to a facilitated
recall of the respective solutions since 64.4% of all insight
solutions were recalled correctly, whereas only 52.4% of all
noninsight solutions were recalled correctly after a delay of 14
days. We demonstrated the great potential of our new approach by
providing a proof of concept for magic tricks as a problem solving
task and conclude that magic tricks offer a novel way of inducing
problem solving that elicits insight. The reliability of individual
evaluations of Aha! experiences indicates that, despite its
subjective character, it can be justified to use the Aha!
experience as a classification criterion. The present work
contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenology of the
Aha! experience by providing evidence for the occurrence of strong
positive emotions as a prevailing aspect. This work also revealed a
memory advantage for solutions that were reached through insight,
demonstrating a facilitating effect of previous insight experiences
on the recall of solutions. This finding provides support for the
assumption that a representational change underlying insightful
solving experiences leads to long-lasting changes in the
representation of a problem that facilitate the retention of the
problem’s solution. In sum, the novel approach presented in this
thesis is shown to constitute a valuable contribution to the field
of insight research and offers much potential for future research.
Revealing the relationship between insight and magic tricks, the
framework of the representational change theory is applied to a new
domain and thus enlarged. Combining the novel task domain of magic
tricks with established insight tasks might help to further
elucidate the process of insight problem solving which is a
characteristic and vital part of human thinking and yet so
difficult to grasp.