Insight: what is it and what are its phases

Possibly on more than one occasion we have been thinking deeply about a situation or problem to which we cannot find a solution, generally spending a long time trying to solve it. with the solution without success, and suddenly this has come to our mind suddenly (sometimes said solution being much simpler and simpler than the whole process we were doing). This situation is not rare, existing in all of us and even in other animal species.

The phenomenon in question, much more important than it seems at first glance, receives the name of insight. And it is on this subject that we are going to talk throughout this article.

• Related article: "The 8 higher psychological processes"

The insight concept

The concept of insight is somewhat complex on a theoretical level, although in practice all of us have at some time experienced a situation in which we have used it. Insight is considered to be that capacity or faculty through which we can become aware of a situation, connecting the situation we are experiencing or thinking of a solution or its understanding. This experience or phenomenon is

corresponds to the idea of ​​realizing something, appearing a sudden understanding lived as a kind of revelation after having been (usually) trying to understand or solve the situation in question.

This understanding appears suddenly, being the product of an unconscious activity that arrives suddenly to consciousness and that supposes the appearance of a solution, the generation of strategies to get to her or the vision of the situation or problem different and new compared to the immediately previous perspective, obtaining a global vision of the situation. The sensation would be similar to that of suddenly finding a way to connect all the pieces of a puzzle.

Insight supposes the existence of a certain cognitive capacity, since it requires realizing what we knew previously and what we have carried out, as well as the ability to generate a mental representation of the situation. It also requires the ability to observe and understand the fundamentals of the situation and the ability to establish partnerships and strategies. This may make you think that it is something human but the truth is that has been observed in other animal species, being especially known in the case of chimpanzees.

• You may be interested: "Animal intelligence: the theories of Thorndike and Köhler"

Phases of insight

While insight is conceived as the usually sudden experimentation of awareness of a situation, methodology or way to solve a problem, the truth is that various authors propose the existence of several identifiable phases through which we can see their performance. In this sense we can distinguish between the following.

1. Mental impasse

This first stage phase refers to a situation or problem to which the person is not able to respond or is not able to identify, being in a situation of blockage in relation to their overcoming.

2. Restructuring the problem

Process by which one tries to solve the problem, which begins in the impasse and in the unsuccessful attempts to represent it and solve it and go through the modification and work to vary the conception or interpretation of the situation in order to solve it. In it, various resources and cognitive skills are used.

3. Acquisition of deep understanding

This phase is in which the knowledge and deep understanding of the situation appears. It is an understanding that appears unconsciously, not being a direct product of the cognitive process that was being followed so far.

4. Suddenness

The last phase of insight would be the conscious perception by the person of understanding as something sudden and that appears clearly in consciousness, this being something sudden and unexpected. This moment is experienced with surprise since there have been no stimulations or elements that allow us to directly predict or explain the reason for the advent of this sudden understanding.

5. Insight learning

One of the contexts in which insight is most evident and one of the points in which it was first identified in other species is that of learning, specifically that necessary to solve problems. In this sense Wolfgang Köhler described the existence of this ability even in monkeys through various experiments in which the apes had to find the solution to a problem.

The sudden acquisition of new repertoires of behavior and knowledge after reaching a global understanding of the situation is called insight learning. This phenomenon is tremendously adaptive to us, and it is also linked to creativity since it allows us to generate new problem-solving strategies, previously non-existent.

• Related article: "Wolfgang Köhler: biography of this German Gestalt psychologist"

Applied in psychopathology

Speaking of insight implies realizing something. And although we usually think about the existence of insight in small details or before the solving a concrete and practical problem, this concept is also applicable to other situations or scopes.

One of them, especially relevant, has to do with mental health. And it is common for the clinic to speak of insight capacity in relation to realizing the state of their mental faculties or their cognitive, behavioral or emotional state. This aspect is very useful when treating any mental disorder or illness. or cerebral, since it allows to self-observe the existence of difficulties and identify the need to be treaty.

Insight capacity may be altered in many situations, and those affected are not aware that they have difficulties (to the point that a subject may not realize that he has gone blind, or for example in cases of dementia that they present memory problems or other faculties) or symptoms such as agitation and altered mood, hallucinations or delusions. And we do not necessarily have to be talking about psychopathology, since the capacity for insight can be altered by the experience of traumatic situations, persistent strong emotions or various concerns that prevent being aware of the existence of problems or of one's own needs.

In cases where there is a lack, deficit or absence of insight, it is necessary to work on this awareness of the situation, since allows the existence of mental flexibility and autonomy, and that is valued for example to show the need for help or a specific treatment (for example, when make it possible to show that hallucinations or delusions are self-generated content and not real stimuli, or the need to be treated).

Bibliographic references:

• I followed, V. (2015). The Insight in Psychology. ISEP Training.