Does Verbalization Always Impair Insight Problem Solving?
Sachiko Kiyokawa (kiyo@isc.chubu.ac.jp) Chubu University Mariko Kirihara (kiriringopart2@yahoo.co.jp) University of Tokyo This study investigated the effects of two kinds of verbalization on insight problem solving. 184 undergraduates were randomly assigned to either one of three conditions: descriptive verbalization, failure-focused verbalization, and control. In all the conditions, participants were interrupted after 2 min of working on each problem. The interruption lasted 1.5 min. During the time, participants in the descriptive verbalization condition were asked to write out how to solve the problem while those in the failure-focused verbalization condition what they thought inappropriate for solving the problem. Seven insight problems were used from Schooler et al. (1993). Fisher’s exact test revealed that the solution rate in descriptive verbalization was significantly lower than those in the other conditions with regard only to “water lily” problem. These results implied that v
