Children’s Development of Understanding Aha-experiences in Problem Solving

Abstract

Little is known about children’s understanding of aha-experiences. On the one hand, there are indications that children experience them from infancy and thus may understand them early. On the other hand, this experience is complex because it comprises several epistemic emotions and insights, and therefore, aha-experiences may be understood later in childhood. The present study aims to examine how children’s understanding of aha-experiences develops. Using a scenario-based approach, 167 children aged 4 to 8 years revealed that at age 4, the children understood at an above-chance level that an aha-experience is about a new idea but attributed the experience to the situation. The oldest children understood even better that the aha-experience is about a new idea to solve a problem and attributed the aha-experience to the idea, not the situation. We discuss the results in terms of similar developmental trajectories in the development of understanding emotions and their relationship to cognition.