The causal relationship between cognitive restructuring and Aha! emotional experiences during insight problem solving

The relationship between restructuring and "Aha!" experience as key components of insight problem solving remains unclear. This study utilizes matchstick arithmetic problems to investigate the effects of different types of restructuring (constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition) on "Aha!" experience. The research primarily examines high (vs. low) constraint ranges and tight (vs. loose) chunk decomposition, which were found to elicit a stronger "Aha!" experience characterized by pleasure, surprise, and suddenness. Furthermore, the emotions of all dimensions of the "Aha!" experience remained unchanged or declined after solution feedback in the case of correctly generated solutions. This study provides evidence for a causal relationship between different types of insight restructuring and "Aha!" experience and reveals that "Aha!" experience is influenced by solution feedback.