Metcalfe and Wiebe gave participants problems to solve and asked them to make "warmth" judgments every 15 seconds to indicate how close they felt they were to a solution. The purpose of this experiment was to
A) demonstrate a difference between how people solve insight and non-insight problems.
B) show how people progress through the problem space as they solve a problem.
C) show that some problems are easier to solve than others.
D) measure the time-course of solving well-defined versus ill-defined problems.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This experiment aimed to demonstrate a difference in how people solve insight problems (where the solution comes suddenly and unexpectedly) compared to non-insight problems (where the solution is reached more gradually). The "warmth" judgments were used to track the participants' feeling of proximity to the solution, which differs significantly between these two types of problems. Insight problem solving often features sudden "aha" moments, whereas non-insight problem solving involves a more linear, step-by-step approach.

Metcalfe and Wiebe Gave Participants Problems to Solve and Asked