Solution of an Insight Problem at Different Age Levels

Abstract

The purpose was to study performance on an insight problem by 3-to 25-yr.-olds. A task involving restructuring and requiring two wooden blocks be fitted together to form a tetrahedron was presented to five groups of 20 subjects each from kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, high school, and a university. The frequencies of solvers within each group increased from the first age group to the third but then remained constant. Solution times and frequencies of solutions attempted were not significantly different among the five groups. Perhaps insight does not follow the same developmental trend as other thinking processes.