What is the Eureka or Aha! effect?
Q: What is the Eureka or Aha! effect?
A: The Eureka or Aha! effect refers to the moment of insight when a puzzling problem is suddenly solved.
Q: Who named this effect?
A: It was named after the Greek polymath Archimedes.
Q: What was Archimedes asked to do by the local king?
A: He was asked to detect whether a crown was pure gold, or if the goldsmith had added silver.
Q: How did he come up with his solution?
A: During his trip to the public bath, he noticed how water got displaced when his body sank into the bath. This inspired him to realize that two objects which weighed the same in air might not weigh the same in water, because the less dense object would displace less water - known as Archimedes' principle.
Q: Is there research on Aha! moments?
A: Yes, there is some research on Aha! insights. Insight is a psychological term describes the process in problem solving when a previously unsolvable puzzle becomes suddenly clear and obvious.
Q: How does insight help solve problems?
A: People using insight are able to give accurate, clear, all-or-nothing type responses, whereas individuals not using insight are more likely to produce partial, incomplete responses.
Q: Why may insight problems be difficult to solve? A: Insight problems may be difficult to solve because of our mental fixation on inappropriate aspects of the problem.
