Quick questions on Cognitive Learning - TCE Psychology (Tasmania)

Insight learning is the sudden grasp of a solution after a period of mental restructuring, not gradual trial and error. Wolfgang Kohler studied chimpanzees in the 1920s. A chimp named Sultan, unable to reach a banana, paused, then suddenly stacked boxes or joined two sticks to retrieve it. The solution appeared abruptly, a moment often called the "aha" experience, suggesting the chimp had mentally rearranged the elements of the problem rather than learning by reinforced steps.

A learning set, or "learning to learn", is an acquired strategy that makes solving later problems of the same type faster. Harlow showed that monkeys given many similar discrimination problems eventually solved new ones almost immediately, because they had learned the underlying rule rather than each specific answer. Learning sets show experience can build general problem-solving approaches, not just particular responses.

Transfer of learning is the effect of prior learning on new learning. Positive transfer occurs when earlier learning helps later learning (knowing the piano helps in learning the organ). Negative transfer occurs when earlier learning interferes (driving on the left makes driving on the right harder at first). Recognising transfer helps explain why some new skills come easily and others are confusing.

Problem solving brings these ideas together. It can use algorithms (step-by-step methods that guarantee a solution) or heuristics (mental shortcuts that are quick but not always correct). Insight, cognitive maps and learning sets all feed into how efficiently a person solves a novel problem.