The Emotional Feedback as a Metacognitive Component of Insight Problem Solving

Abstract

The main goal of the work is to examine possibilities and limitations of solver’s metacognitive monitoring using emotional feedback in the process of insight problem solving. In the research participants solved Katona’s Five-Square problem. During the solution participants received feedback as emotional stimuli: negative or positive. To control nonspecific influence of emotions on problem solving emotional feedback was given only when participants made moves. Feedback was either congruent (for example, positive — correct move, negative — incorrect) or non-congruent (for example, positive — incorrect, negative — correct). We did not reveal the effect of emotional congruency, but showed that positive emotional feedback facilitates solution of the insight problem. The paper discusses possible limitations of experimental design that do not allow making unambiguous conclusions about emotional feedback in the process of insight problem solving.