Insight Learning

Insight learning is a form of problem solving in which the solution to a problem appears suddenly, as a whole, following a period during which no progress seems to be made, rather than emerging through a gradual, trial-and-error process. The concept is most closely associated with Gestalt psychologist Wolfgang Kohler, whose studies of chimpanzees showed that they could combine familiar elements, such as joining two sticks together, to solve a novel problem after a period of apparent contemplation rather than random attempts. The sudden restructuring of the problem that produces the solution is often described informally as a moment of insight.