Trait-like Resting-State Brain Oscillations Predict Subsequent Problem-Solving Strategies

People use different processing strategies to solve problems. Previous research distinguishes between solving problems by analysis, that is, in a conscious, deliberate manner, versus by insight, in which the solution appears abruptly in awareness (the "Aha" phenomenon) after a period of unconscious processing. Prior work provides little evidence whether the tendency to solve problems using one or the other of these strategies constitutes a stable, trait-like cognitive style. We tested this hypothesis by assessing whether individuals evince a consistent preference for a particular solving strategy across days and types of problems and whether these cognitive styles have neural correlates. We recorded participants' resting-state electroencephalograms (EEGs) on 4 occasions, approximately once per week. At the end of the third and fourth sessions, participants attempted to solve a series of short verbal problems (compound remote associates during session 3 and anagrams during session 4). Based on participants' trial-by-trial reports of the manner in which they solved anagram problems, individuals were categorized as predominantly relying on an insight or an analytic solving strategy. The resting-state EEGs of these groups, recorded during previous sessions were compared. Participants in the analytic group showed greater EEG beta power over midline and right inferior-frontal regions compared to insightful participants; participants in the insightful group showed greater beta power over left superior parietal cortex compared to those in the analytic group. Group differences in solving strategy and resting-state EEGs assessed with anagram problems generalized to the compound remote associates problems. Overall, these results demonstrate the behavioral and neural consistency of these cognitive styles over both time and type of problem. The finding that insightful solvers exhibited a lower ratio of frontal to parietal neural activity supports the hypothesis that insightfulness results from chronic relative frontal hypoactivation and concomitant parietal disinhibition whereas analytic solvers exhibit chronic relative frontal hyperactivation and parietal inhibition.Ph.D., Psychology -- Drexel University, 201