Effects of subliminal hints on insight problem solving

Abstract

Two experiments tested a total of 509 participants on insight problems (the radiation problem and the nine-dot problem). Half of the participants were first exposed to a 1-min movie that included a subliminal hint. The hint raised the solution rate of people who did not recognize it. In addition, the way they solved the problem was affected by the hint. In Experiment 3, a novel technique was introduced to address some methodological concerns raised by Experiments 1 and 2. A total of 80 participants solved the 10-coin problem, and half of them were exposed to a subliminal hint. The hint facilitated solving the problem, and it shortened the solution time. Some implications of subliminal priming for research on and theorizing about insight problem solving are discussed.

Positive and Negative Affects Facilitate Insight Problem‐Solving in Different Ways: A Study with Implicit Hints

“…Analogical problem‐solving refers to solving the target problem by applying knowledge relating to solutions to other problems (i.e., bases) that have an analogous structure to that of the target issue. Contrary to Gick and Holyoak (), who suggested that a hint must be acknowledged as a hint to have its effect, Hattori et al () claimed that a subliminal hint can function as a primer. However, Hattori et al’s findings also differ from those of the aforementioned Jaušovec (), who did not observe hints having any influence on individuals in positive affective states.…”

“…The hint stimulus in the hint condition was similar to that used by Hattori et al (, Experiment 1). The figural hint image was presented as part of a 60‐s movie, which was composed using one hint image (exposed 33 ms × 60 times), two mask images, three filler images, and one fixation image (Figure ).…”

“…In the study of Hattori et al (), the hint image was primed during the problem‐solving task. Using this method, they showed a robust influence of hint priming.…”

“…Implicit thought in problem‐solving can be probed by priming as impressively demonstrated by some recent studies, such as Hattori, Sloman, and Orita () and Suzuki and Fukuda (), who showed the facilitative effect of unrecognized (i.e., subliminal) hints. Implicit hints are pieces of information that assist the solving of a task even though the solvers cannot consciously see the hints or realize their relevance to the problem.…”

“…In insight problem‐solving, people often suddenly realize a solution (Sternberg & Davidson, ) but cannot correctly introspect the processes that led them to this insight (Metcalfe, ); hence, it is impossible to clarify the processes involved based on introspection. In contrast, hint priming is an effective method for detecting the implicit processes of insight (Hattori et al, ).…”