title: Using another's gaze as an explicit aid to insight problem solving.
abstract: Research has shown that implicitly guiding attention via visual cues or unrelated tasks can increase the likelihood of solving insight problems. We examined whether following another person making specific skin-crossing saccades could induce similar attentional shifts and increase solution rates for Duncker's ((1945)) radiation problem. We presented 150 participants with one of three 30-s eye movement patterns from another problem solver: (a) focusing solely on the central tumour; (b) naturally making skin-crossing saccades between the outside area and the tumour from multiple angles; or (c) making deliberate skin-crossing saccades between the outside area and the tumour from multiple angles. Following another person making skin-crossing saccades increased the likelihood of solving the radiation problem. Our results demonstrate that another person's eye movements can promote attentional shifts that trigger insight problem solving.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. d.litchfield@lancaster.ac.uk
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Litchfield
authors.forename: Linden J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Ball
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities