An exploratory study on remote associates problem solving: Evidence of eye movement indicators

In recent years, remote associates problems have been widely used to measure creative processes. However, studies have rarely explored the processes involved in remote associates problem solving. The main purpose of this study was to record eye movements while participants solved twelve remote associates problems compiled by Huang (2014). The results show the following: (1) The mean fixation duration gradually increases throughout the problem-solving process, which indicates that more problem solvers encounter impasses over the course of problem solving. This result supports the “impasse encounter” phase of insight. (2) During the initial period of problem solving, individuals display more regression counts in the fixation region than in the key region, which supports the idea that the impasses are caused by inappropriate initial representation. (3) During the middle period of the problem-solving process, the time individuals spend gazing at the key region increases, while the time that they spend gazing at the fixation region decreases. This pattern supports the “impasse resolution and insight” phase of insight. Finally, we compare the differences in eye movement between insight and remote associates problem solving.