Restructuring insight: An integrative review of insight in problem-solving, meditation, psychotherapy, delusions and psychedelics
OpenAlex – November 26, 2021
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Insight, the sudden flash of understanding, is a central cognitive phenomenon unifying diverse aspects of human experience. This fundamental process, crucial in meditation and a core component for psychotherapists, also underlies delusion emergence in schizophrenia. Drawing on a variety of fields, from cognitive psychology to psychedelics and drug studies, it highlights a shared mechanism. Its profound relevance extends beyond mental health research topics, deepening our epistemology of human understanding. This integrative view inspires interdisciplinary cognitive science, even offering new perspectives on aesthetic perception and analysis.
Abstract
Occasionally, a solution or idea arrives as a sudden understanding - an insight. Insight has been considered an “extra” ingredient of creative thinking and problem-solving. Here we propose that insight is central in seemingly distinct areas of research. Drawing on literature from a variety of fields, we show that besides being commonly studied in problem-solving literature, insight is also a core component in psychotherapy and meditation, a key process underlying the emergence of delusions in schizophrenia, and a factor in the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. In each case, we discuss the event of insight and its prerequisites and consequences. We review evidence for the commonalities and differences between the fields and discuss their relevance for capturing the essence of the insight phenomenon. The goal of this integrative review is to bridge the gap between the different views and inspire interdisciplinary research efforts for understanding this central process of human cognition.