华东师范大学学报(教育科学版) ›› 2014, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4): 80-89.

• 心理学 • 上一篇    下一篇

通达创造性顿悟的具身之路

张忠炉,李红   

  1. 辽宁师范大学心理学院,大连 116029
  • 出版日期:2014-12-20 发布日期:2015-01-06
  • 通讯作者: 张忠炉,李红
  • 作者简介:张忠炉,李红
  • 基金资助:

    基金项目: 国家社会科学基金“十一五”规划2008 年度教育学一般课题(BBA080047)

Embodied Approaches to Creative Insight

ZHANG Zhong-Lu, LI Hong   

  1. School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029
  • Online:2014-12-20 Published:2015-01-06
  • Contact: ZHANG Zhong-Lu, LI Hong
  • About author: ZHANG Zhong-Lu, LI Hong

摘要: “如何通达创造性顿悟”可能是比“顿悟瞬间发生了什么”更重要的问题。具身认知理论认为,人类身体及其与世界的交互经验为认知提供了支架基础并影响认知加工。通达创造性顿悟有两种具身路径:内在的身体结构和状态以及身体和外在环境的交互经验。前者主要体现在:某些大脑部位的改变比如背外侧前额叶的损毁或者左右前颞叶的失活与激活促发顿悟;个体处在特殊的生理状态下比如说适度醉酒、睡眠或者一天中不佳时间段等更可能通达顿悟;其他的状态如冥想(专注)以及积极情感也促进顿悟问题解决。后者主要体现在:身体与物理实物的交互使得更可能遭遇反例从而通达顿悟;当身体动作激活了解答相关的知觉运动模式时(比如说在解答双绳问题时摆动手臂),顿悟更可能发生;某些身体姿势比如说保持手臂弯曲而不是伸展更可能促进顿悟问题解决;通过隐喻的方式(比如说暴露在照亮的灯泡下)来激活顿悟相关的抽象概念也可以通达顿悟;经历多样文化促进创造性问题的解决。由此可见,身体及其与世界的交互经验在通达创造性顿悟中起重要作用。人类身体通达创造性顿悟的方法为揭示顿悟机制提供了新视角。未来研究可以挖掘更多的身体相关变量,结合认知神经科学方法,探索顿悟的具身机制。

关键词: 创造性顿悟, 具身认知, 身体结构, 身体状态, 身体经验

Abstract: In creative insight domain, the question of how to access creative insight seems more important than the question of what happens at that moment. In embodied cognitive theory, the human body and the interactive experiences between body and world provide a scafford for and have influence on cognition processing. Within this theoretical framework, in this article we review two embodied approaches to creative insight: the first one refers to bodily structures and states and the second one refers to the interactive experiences between body and world. In terms of the first approach, the change in some brain structures such as damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or decreased excitability on the left side together with increased excitability on the right side of the anterior temporal lobes facilitates insight. Individuals in special physiological states such as moderate intoxication, sleep or the nonoptimal time of day have better performance on creative insight, or some other states like meditation (or mindfulness) and positive affection can improve insight problem solving. In terms of the second approach, the interaction between body and physical props enables construction of counterexamples, thus improving insight solutions. Insight can occur when the bodily action activates the perceptual and motor pattern related to solution (e.g., swinging arms in solving the two string problem), or some gestures such as arm flexion rather than arm extension can bolster insight, or insight can also be elicited by activating the insightrelated abstract concept in a metaphorical way (e.g., exposure to an illuminating lightbulb), or multiculture experiences can bolster insight. In light of the embodied cognition theory and insightrelevant studies, human body and the bodily experience through the world play great role in insight occurrence. The embodied approach to insight provides a new perspective to reveal the insight mechanism. Future studies should be conducted to identify more bodyrelevant variables on creative insight and apply the cognitive neuroscience approach to the exploration of the embodied mechanisms of creative insight.

Key words: Creative insight, embodied cognition, bodily structure, bodily states, bodily experiences