How can we gain insight in scientific innovation? Prototype heuristic is one key

•We explored gaining insight in scientific innovation field.•We proposed the Prototype Heuristic Theory and explored its cognitive mechanism.•We developed the Representation Change Theory and Progress Monitoring Theory further.

Insight can be the first step toward creating a groundbreaking product. The Representation Change (RC) Theory and the Progress Monitoring (PM) Theory and other theories of insight have been verified through numerous studies, but they indeed are not so perfect. We put forward a Prototype Heuristic Theory of insight and explored its cognitive mechanism by this study. Based on this theory, insight would occur as soon as the critical heuristic information contained in prototypes was suddenly obtained to play an orientational role in the process of searching the right problem solution searching space. The process of prototype heuristics consists of two stages: “representations connection” stage and “relationship mapping” stage and the core process was the representations connection. Furthermore, high semantic similarity between required-function of problems and feature-function of prototypes was the prime condition for representations connection. We also developed the RC Theory and PM Theory in some extent based on our Prototype Heuristic Theory.

Graphical abstractThe frame diagram of cognitive mechanism of the prototype heuristics.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide