Host institution: Copenhagen Business School, Denmark;   Lead supervisor: Bo T. Christensen: bc.marktg AT cbs.dk

Description: Previous studies of insight have mainly involved experiments conducted on novice subjects working alone on artificial creative problems in laboratory settings. Such experimental setups are far removed from the anecdotal real-world settings that would have us believe in the insight phenomenon. Anecdotal accounts are, however, also problematic, given their retrospective nature. Recent methodological developments in creative cognition, however, provide an opportunity to attempt to study insight ‘live’ as it takes place in real world settings. The method is referred to as ‘in vivo’ research as championed by Kevin Dunbar in scientific domains [28], and now also applied in design settings by the CBS key staff member Bo T. Christensen. ‘In vivo’ research uses a combination of ethnographic methods for data collection (studying the phenomenon in question in the real world using video recordings) with verbal protocol analysis carried out on the transcribed data. In design, the in vivo method has been used to study for example analogical reasoning and mental simulation, but so far, insight has not received research attention here.

It is proposed to further develop the ‘in vivo’ methodology to capture the emergence of insight within real world data using novel coding schemes. This line of research promises to inform current theoretical and computational models of insight by showing how insight takes place in the real world, as opposed to the laboratory or anecdotal accounts. As such, current limitations in methodology may be overcome and original findings may be attained. Further computational modelling may also result. The application domain will be industrial design (e.g., at Knud E. Hansen A/S).

Outcomes: Deliverables include journal articles of methodological improvements, findings on real-world prospective studies of insight, and new or revised computational models of insight.