How children understand aha-experiences in problem solving

Aha experiences are sudden moments of insight when a solution or idea clicks into place, often with a sense of clarity and surprise. They’re fascinating to study because they reveal how the brain solves problems unconsciously and can inform creativity, learning, and decision-making across psychology, education, and innovation.

Haugen, J., Prenevost, M. H., R. Nilsen, I. B., Bølstad, E., Pons, F., & Reber, R. How children understand aha-experiences in problem solving. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12565

Key Points

• Focus: The study explores how children aged 4–8 understand aha-experiences—sudden insights during problem-solving—and their emotional significance.
• Method: Two studies were conducted using illustrated story-based scenarios and structured response tasks. Participants were 125 children (Study 1) and 167 children (Study 2), aged 4–8.
• Findings: Children as young as 4 associated aha-moments with positive emotions. Older children (7–8) increasingly attributed aha-experiences to internal mental processes (insight), whereas younger children (4–5) focused on external triggers (solutions).
• Implications: These findings extend theories of emotional development and theory of mind by showing that children gradually learn to link internal cognition with emotion in complex problem-solving contexts.

Rationale

Children’s ability to understand emotions based on internal cognitive events, such as insight, develops across early childhood.

Prior research has mainly focused on how children link external events or beliefs to emotions. The current study addresses a gap by investigating how children interpret aha-experiences—a blend of cognition and emotion—during problem solving.

This has implications for educational practice and theories of cognitive-emotional development.

Understanding the developmental trajectory of such experiences can inform how we support learning and emotional reasoning in young children.

Method

Two independent studies were conducted:

• Study 1: A scenario-based approach where children rated the emotions of a story character during various stages of problem-solving (e.g., insight, trial-and-error, outcome).
• Study 2: A reaction-based design where children identified which story led to an aha-expression and explained whether it was due to gaining a new idea (mental trigger) or solving the problem (external trigger).

Both studies involved preregistered designs and used illustrations and audio prompts to engage children aged 4–8.

Procedure

Study 1:

• Children viewed four versions of illustrated problem-solving stories (combining solution type: insight vs. trial-error; and outcome: success vs. failure).
• For each story, they rated the character’s affect at four points:
  • Introduction
  • Impasse
  • Insight
  • Outcome

Study 2:

• Children saw an illustration of a character saying “Aha!” and were told two different backstories.
• Question 1: Choose which story best matched the aha-expression (insight vs. continuing to fail).
• Question 2: Explain whether the aha came from getting a new idea (mental) or solving the problem (external).
• Tasks included visual stimuli and were counterbalanced for gender, color, and order.

Sample

• Study 1: N = 123 children (4–8 years old), recruited from kindergartens and schools in eastern Norway, predominantly from middle-to-high SES neighborhoods.
• Study 2: N = 167 children (4–9 years old, with 8- and 9-year-olds grouped), from a socioeconomically diverse, gentrifying Norwegian area.

Measures

• Affect Scale (Study 1): Visual rating of facial expressions from very sad to very happy.
• Scenario Attribution (Study 2):
  • Q1: Identify the correct story for an aha-moment.
  • Q2: Attribute the aha-experience to insight (mental trigger) or solution (external trigger).

Statistical Measures

• Study 1:
  • Mixed ANOVAs to assess effects of age, story type, and outcome on affect ratings.
  • Post-hoc and polynomial trend analyses.
• Study 2:
  • Polynomial contrasts and one-sample t-tests to compare attribution choices to chance (50%).
  • Holm-Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.

Results

• Study 1:
  • All children associated insight and successful outcomes with positive affect.
  • Younger children (4–5) did not differentiate between insight and outcome.
  • Older children (6–8) increasingly distinguished these moments.
• Study 2:
  • From age 4, children recognized that aha-moments involve new ideas.
  • Age 4: Attributed aha to solutions (external).
  • Ages 5–6: Mixed responses (chance level).
  • Ages 7–8: Attributed aha to insights (internal) above chance.

Insight

This study reveals that children’s understanding of cognitive-emotional experiences like aha-moments matures gradually.

While 4-year-olds relate insight to positive feelings, only by age 7–8 do children consistently attribute these feelings to internal thought processes rather than external outcomes.

This aligns with research on theory of mind and supports the idea that children’s grasp of metacognitive emotion grows with age.

Future research could explore how to foster this understanding earlier or examine related phenomena like “uh-oh” moments or mixed emotions in problem solving.

Clinical Implications

• Education: Teachers can leverage young children’s positive associations with insight to encourage curiosity and problem solving.
• Emotion Coaching: Programs could explicitly teach children to distinguish between solving a problem and generating new ideas to foster deeper emotional awareness.
• Interventions: Theory-of-mind-based interventions might accelerate understanding of internal emotional triggers and metacognitive awareness.

Strengths

This study had several methodological strengths, including:

• The study used child-friendly, illustrated, and audio-guided materials tailored to young participants.
• It included a preregistered, open-science approach with accessible data and analysis scripts.
• Tasks were designed to isolate cognitive and emotional components of insight.
• It involved diverse samples and age groups across two methodological approaches.

Limitations

This study also had several limitations, including:

• Materials were tailored for young children, possibly leading to ceiling effects and boredom in older participants.
• Some older children may have underperformed due to low task difficulty.
• Children’s judgments were not explained verbally, limiting understanding of their reasoning.
• Ceiling effects in some age groups may have masked developmental differences.

Socratic Questions

1. What might be some alternative explanations for why young children associate insights with positive feelings?
2. Could the design of the stories have influenced how children interpreted the aha-moment?
3. In what ways might cultural differences influence children’s understanding of insight and emotion?
4. How would the findings change if children were asked to explain their reasoning verbally?
5. How can educators apply these findings to support children’s learning and emotional development?
6. Do you think an “aha-experience” must always be linked to a positive emotion? Why or why not?
7. What other metacognitive experiences might be worth studying in early childhood development?
8. How might understanding aha-experiences help children become more self-aware problem-solvers?