Solving Insight Problems

This chapter focuses on insight problems, which, irrespective of their complexity, require a restructuring of representation for their solution. Drawing on experimental research, it challenges dualistic theories of thought by advancing an innovative account of the interpretative function and the cognitive unconscious. Beginning with the phenomenological tradition of Gestalt psychology and moving to contemporary cognitive approaches, the chapter highlights the role of unconscious analytical processes, supported by evidence from studies on reformulation, verbalization, and incubation. These findings suggest that problem-solving is guided not only by conscious strategies but also by covert, relevance-driven operations that enable creative restructuring. The chapter thus reframes insight as a paradigmatic case of interpretative reasoning, linking unconscious analytic thought with communicative mechanisms. An appendix extends this perspective by comparing Mosconi’s concept of psychorhetoric with Grice’s theory of conversational implicatures.