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When higher working memory capacity hinders insight.

Marci S DeCaro1, Charles A Van Stockum1, Mareike B Wieth2

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|June 30, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Higher working memory capacity (WMC) can hinder insight problem solving. This effect depends on the task, suggesting WMC may impede creative solutions by promoting overthinking.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Higher working memory capacity (WMC) is linked to improved cognitive and academic performance.
  • However, enhanced attentional control in high WMC individuals may lead to suboptimal, attention-demanding strategies.
  • Insight problem solving is thought to rely on associative processes less dependent on focused attention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if higher WMC hinders insight problem solving.
  • To explore how insight problem characteristics influence the relationship between WMC and problem-solving success.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Participants with varying WMC completed matchstick arithmetic problems.
  • Experiment 2: Participants with varying WMC completed insight word problems.
  • Statistical analyses controlled for shared variance between insight and incremental problem-solving accuracy.

Main Results:

  • Higher WMC was negatively associated with accuracy in matchstick arithmetic insight problems.
  • Higher WMC was also negatively associated with accuracy in insight word problems, after controlling for incremental problem-solving.
  • These results indicate WMC's dual role in problem-solving processes.

Conclusions:

  • Working memory capacity may benefit foundational cognitive processes but impede the associative and restructuring processes crucial for insight.
  • The impact of WMC on insight problem solving is moderated by task demands and problem characteristics.
  • Understanding the interplay between WMC and task type is key to supporting insight and creative problem-solving.