Psychology Night Research Posters and Presentations
 

Faculty Sponsor, if applicable

Sandy Virtue

Project Abstract

During problem solving, individuals often use insight (“Aha!” moment) to come up with a solution to a problem. Research has shown that solutions to insight problems can be primed through a semantic relationship (White 1988), but there has been no research investigating the priming of insight solutions through figurative language, such as inferences. The current proposed study will investigate the relationship between inferences used as primes and anagram solution solving rates. The study looks to see if individuals can solve anagrams faster when preceded by a related inference over a neutral sentence. The study also will investigate if individuals are significantly more likely to choose one anagram solution over another solution based off the priming inference. The involvement of the cerebral hemispheres will also be investigated through the DVF paradigm of the experiment. We would expect that regardless of hemispheric processing participants would be significantly more likely to choose the solution primed by an inference over the neutral sentence, and that participants will be more accurate in solving the anagrams that are preceded by an inference prime. However, due to the exploratory nature of the study, the hemispheric advantages remain unclear.

Type of Research

Undergraduate Student - Independent Study

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Presentation Year

May 2017

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