Insight: what is it and what are its phases?

A mental phenomenon by which we reach a sudden understanding of a problem and its solution.

Possibly on more than one occasion we have been pondering deeply about a situation or problem to which we are unable to find a solution, usually spending a long time trying to find the solution without success, and suddenly it has suddenly come to our mind (sometimes the solution being much simpler and easier than the whole process we were doing). This situation is not rare, existing in all of us and even in other animal species.

The phenomenon in question, much more important than it seems at first sight, is called insight, is called insight. And it is on this subject that we are going to talk about in this article.

The insight concept

The concept of insight is somewhat complex at a theoretical level, although in practice all of us have experienced on some occasion a situation in which we have used it. Insight is considered to be that capacity or faculty through which we can become aware of a situation, connecting the situation we are experiencing or thinking about a solution or its understanding. This experience or phenomenon corresponds to the corresponds to the idea of realizing something, appearing a sudden understanding, experienced as a kind of revelation. experienced as a kind of revelation after having been (usually) trying to understand or solve the situation in question.

This understanding appears suddenly, being the product of an unconscious activity that comes suddenly to consciousness and that implies the appearance of a solution, the generation of strategies to reach it, or the generation of strategies to reach it. the different and new vision of the situation or problem in comparison with the immediately previous perspective, obtaining a global vision of the situation.The feeling would be similar to that of suddenly finding a way to connect all the pieces of a puzzle. The sensation would be similar to that of suddenly finding the way to connect all the pieces of a puzzle.

Insight presupposes the existence of a certain cognitive capacity, since it requires the realization of what we knew before and what we have carried out, as well as the capacity to generate a mental representation of the situation. It also requires the ability to observe and understand the fundamentals of the situation and the ability to establish associations and strategies. This may lead one to think that it is something human, but the truth is that it has been observed in other animal species. has been observed in other animal speciesbeing especially known in the case of chimpanzees.

Phases of insight

While insight is conceived as the generally sudden the generally sudden experience of awareness of a situation, methodology or way to solve a problem, it is true that several authors propose the existence of several identifiable phases through which we can see its action.The truth is that several authors propose the existence of several identifiable phases through which we can see its performance. In this sense we can distinguish between the following.

1. Mental impasse

This first phase refers to a situation or problem to which the person is not able to give an answer or which he/she is not able to identify, being in a situation of blockage in relation to its overcoming..

Restructuring of the problem

Process by which an attempt is made to solve the problem, which begins in the impasse and in the unsuccessful attempts to represent and solve it and goes through the modification and work to vary the conception or interpretation of the situation in order to solve it. It employs a variety of resources and cognitive skills..

3. Acquisition of deep understanding

This is the phase in which the deep knowledge and understanding of the situation appears. It is an understanding that appears unconsciously, not being a direct product of the cognitive process that was being followed up to that moment..

4. Suddenness

The last phase of insight would be the person's conscious perception of the understanding as something sudden and sudden. the insight as something sudden and appearing clearly in the consciousness, being something sudden and unexpected.being sudden and unexpected. This moment is lived with surprise since there have been no stimuli or elements that allow predicting or directly explaining the reason for the advent of this sudden understanding.

5. Learning by insight

One of the contexts in which insight is most evident and one of the points in which it was first identified in other species is in the context of learning, specifically in the context of problem solving. In this regard, Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler described the existence of this capacity even in monkeys, through through various experiments in which the apes had to find the solution to a problem.

The acquisition of new behavioral repertoires and knowledge suddenly after reaching a global understanding of the situation is called insight learning. This phenomenon is tremendously adaptive for us, and it is also linked to creativity as it allows us to generate new problem-solving strategies, previously non-existent.

Applied in psychopathology

To speak of insight implies realizing something. And although we usually think of the existence of insight in small details or in the resolution of a concrete and practical problem, this concept is also applicable to other situations or areas.

One of them, particularly relevant, has to do with mental health.. It is common in clinical practice to speak of insight capacity in terms of being aware of the state of one's mental faculties or cognitive, behavioral or emotional state. This aspect is very useful when treating any mental or cerebral disorder or illness, since it allows self-observing the existence of difficulties and identifying the need to be treated.

The capacity for insight may be impaired in many situations, with those affected being unaware that they have difficulties (to the extent that a subject may not realize that he has become blind, or for example in cases of dementia that they have problems with memory or other faculties) or symptoms such as states of agitation and altered mood, hallucinations or delusions. And we do not necessarily have to be talking about psychopathology, since the capacity for insight may be altered by the experience of traumatic situations, persistent strong emotions or various worries.In cases where there is a lack of insight, it can be due to a lack of awareness, persistent strong emotions or various worries that prevent awareness of the existence of problems or of one's own needs.

In cases where there is a lack, deficit or absence of insight, it is necessary to work on this awareness of the situation, given that it allows the existence of mental flexibility and autonomyThe need for help or specific treatment (e.g., to show that hallucinations or delusions are self-generated content and not real stimuli, or the need for treatment).

Bibliographical references:

• Seguí, V. (2015). Insight in Psychology. ISEP Formación.