The Nature of Insight

Brings together diverse perspectives on the nature and origins of insightful thinking, and examines the history of theory and research on the topic. Contributors draw on aspects of experimental psychology, cognitive science, and social history to look at creative puzzle-solving, the mental processes behind new inventions, and the thinking of some of the most insightful people in history, and consider metaphors such as evolution and investment as bases for understanding insight. Includes b&w illustrations. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The Nature of Insight brings together diverse perspectives, including recent theories and discoveries, to examine the nature and origins of insightful thinking, as well as the history of theory and research on the topic and the methods used to study it. There are chapters by the leading experts in this field, including Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ronald A. Finke, Howard E. Gruber, Marcel Adam Just, David E. Meyer, David N. Perkins, Dean Keith Simonton, and Robert W. Weisberg, among others. The Nature of Insight is divided into five main parts. Following an introduction that reviews the history and methods of the field, part II looks at how people solve challenging puzzles whose answers cannot be obtained through ordinary means. Part III focuses on how people come up with ideas for new inventions, while part IV explores the thinking of some of the most insightful people in the history of civilization. Part V considers metaphors such as evolution and investment as bases for understanding insight. An epilogue integrates all these approaches.