Abstract

Most psychological theories of problem solving have focused on modeling explicit processes that gradually bring the solver closer to the solution in a mostly explicit and deliberative way. This approach to problem solving is typically inefficient when the problem is too complex, ill-understood, or ambiguous. In such a case, a ‘creative’ approach to problem solving might be more appropriate. In the present paper, we propose a computational psychological model implementing the Explicit-Implicit Interaction theory of creative problem solving that involves integrating the results of implicit and explicit processing. In this paper, the new model is used to simulate insight in creative problem solving and the overshadowing effect.