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Related Concept Videos

Cognitive Learning01:21

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

An Appetitive Spatial Working Memory Task for Mice in a Semi-Automated 8-Arm Radial Maze, Reducing Fearful Memory Association in the Maze
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Working memory and insight in the nine-dot problem.

Jason M Chein1, Robert W Weisberg, Naomi L Streeter

  • 1Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. jchein@temple.edu

Memory & Cognition
|October 6, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Working memory (WM) capacity is key to solving insight problems like the nine-dot puzzle. Higher spatial WM predicted drawing lines outside the dots and solving a hint-aided version, suggesting WM

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Problem Solving Research

Background:

  • Insight problems, like the nine-dot problem, are traditionally thought to be solved without conscious planning.
  • Previous research suggested a limited role for working memory (WM) in solving these problems.
  • An information-processing model proposed a visual WM mechanism ('lookahead') for the nine-dot problem.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the predictive relationship between working memory capacity and performance on the nine-dot problem.
  • To test the hypothesis that WM capacity influences insight problem-solving strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed participants' spatial working memory capacity.
  • Analyzed performance on the nine-dot problem, including strategy use (drawing lines outside the dots) and solution rates.
  • Evaluated performance on a hint-aided version of the nine-dot problem.

Main Results:

  • Spatial WM capacity significantly predicted the tendency to draw lines outside the standard dot configuration.
  • Higher spatial WM capacity was associated with successfully solving a hint-aided nine-dot problem.
  • Among participants who solved the problem, greater spatial WM capacity correlated with faster solution times.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support an information-processing model of insight problem solving that incorporates a visual WM mechanism.
  • Working memory and planning play a more significant role in insight problem solving than previously acknowledged.
  • Spatial WM capacity is a crucial factor influencing both strategy selection and solution efficiency in the nine-dot problem.