Accuracy, confidence and motivation in children’s insight problem-solving

Prenevost, Mathilde H. and Nilsen, Ida B. R. and Bølstad, Evalill and Pons, Francisco and Harris, Paul L. and Reber, Rolf (2025) Accuracy, confidence and motivation in children’s insight problem-solving. In: EPS Lancaster Meeting, 2025, 2025-04-02 - 2025-04-04.

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Abstract

Moments of insight are associated with accuracy, confidence and motivation in research with adults (Wiley & Danek, 2024). However, little is known about children’s insights. We presented 160 children (age: 4–8 years, 47% girls) with a new insight problem-solving task. Across 8 trials, children saw three clues and were asked to find a solution word associated with all three clues. Self-reported and observed aha-experiences were recorded, along with children’s solution accuracy and confidence. We found that aha-experiences were associated with accuracy (observed: OR = 11.76, p <.001, N trials = 1280; self-reported: OR = 2.26, p =.003, N trials = 560). However, there was no association between aha-experiences and confidence (observed: OR = 1.46, p =.138, N trials = 1063; self-reported: OR = 0.67, p =.287, N trials = 471). To assess children’s motivation, they could choose between two bonus tasks after completing a set of the insight task. We found that observed aha-experiences (OR = 1.5, p =.003, N participants = 160), but not self-reported aha experiences (OR = 1.1, p =.644, N participants = 70), were associated with higher likelihood that a child would choose to continue with the same type of task, rather than switching to a new kind of task.