Constraint Relaxation And Chunk Decomposition As Well As The Incubation Effect In Chinese Logogriph Task

The representational-change theory proposes that there are two mechanisms of insight:constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition and they have been proved true in lots of studieswith the matchstick as the insight material, However, three problems were not yet clear at present,firstly, whether the two mechanisms could explain insight phenomenon in Chinese logogriph,secondly, what is the electrophysiological correlates of constraint relaxation and chunkdecomposition, thirdly, what is the incubation effect of the two mechanisms.In experiment1a and1b, the normal reading meaning and the logogriph meaning of thelogogriph were compared when participants tried to understand the two. And then, the answer wasoffered to test whether it could help relax constraint from the normal reading meaning of thelogogriph. The result showed that (1) the normal reading meaning was easier to understand thanthe logogriph meaning and (2) it was necessary to relax the constraint from the normal readingmeaning to guess out the logogriph; in experiment1c, the result showed that constraint relaxationwas related to N100/P200complex, P300and N400, reflecting more early attention involving,forming novel association and integration of semantic processing, respectively.In experiment2a, two types of logogriph chunks were distinguished: the logogriph chunksinvolved in sub-chunk embedded with each other or at stroke level were regarded as tight chunksand the logogriph chunks involved in sub-chunk not embedded with each other or at the radicallevel were loose chunk. The result showed that it was more difficult to decompose tight chunksthan loose ones and the reaction time of the former was longer than the latter. As indicated inexperiment2b, N100and P400-600was significantly elicited by tight chunk condition than byloose one, with N100being regarded as a label of unrelated information filtering and attentionattracting and P400-600reflecting representation renewing.To explore the influence different hints on constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition inincubation period, a2(type of chunk: tight or loose)*3(type of hint: prototype, non-prototype or nohint) experimental design was adopted in experiment3. The result showed that the prototype hinthad more facilitation on the constraint relaxation and the chunk decomposition than thenon-prototype hint or the no hint.In short, the cognitive mechanism of insight in the Chinese logogriph can be explained in the context of representational-change theory with constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition.The prototype hint can advance the process of constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition inChinese logogriph task during the incubation period.