Abstract
Recent investigations have established the value of using rebus puzzles in studying the insight and analytic processes that underpin problem solving. The current study sought to validate a pool of 84 rebus puzzles in terms of their solution rates, solution times, error rates, solution confidence, self-reported solution strategies, and solution phrase familiarity. All of the puzzles relate to commonplace English sayings and phrases in the United Kingdom. Eighty-four rebus puzzles were selected from a larger stimulus set of 168 such puzzles and were categorized into six types in relation to the similarity of their structures. The 84 selected problems were thence divided into two sets of 42 items (Set A and Set B), with rebus structure evenly balanced between each set. Participants (N = 170; 85 for Set A and 85 for Set B) were given 30 s to solve each item, subsequently indicating their confidence in their solution and self-reporting the process used to solve the problem (analysis or insight), followed by the provision of ratings of the familiarity of the solution phrases. The resulting normative data yield solution rates, error rates, solution times, confidence ratings, self-reported strategies and familiarity ratings for 84 rebus puzzles, providing valuable information for the selection and matching of problems in future research.
Highlights
Problem solving involves thinking activity that is directed toward the achievement of goals that are not immediately attainable (e.g., Newell and Simon, 1972)
For each rebus puzzle we calculated the number of correct solutions and the number of incorrect solutions that had been provided by the 85 participants
This allowed us to calculate the percentage of correct solutions for a particular rebus item, which we subsequently refer to as the solution rate
Summary
Problem solving involves thinking activity that is directed toward the achievement of goals that are not immediately attainable (e.g., Newell and Simon, 1972). Problem solving can be fairly mundane (e.g., deciding what to make for your evening meal) it can lead to solutions that are highly creative (e.g., a delicious new dish prepared by a master chef). This latter kind of “creative problem solving” is distinguished from other types of problem solving in that it involves the generation of solutions that are both original and effective, with the sole presence of either attribute being insufficient for a solution to be deemed creative (see Runco, 2018). Research on creative problem solving has burgeoned over the past 20 years, with a traditional assumption being that people solve such problems in one of two different ways, that is, either (i) through analytic processes, which involve conscious, explicit thinking that takes the solver closer to a solution in a slow, step-by-step manner (e.g., Fleck and Weisberg, 2004; Ball and Stevens, 2009); or (ii) through insight processes, which involve non-conscious, implicit thinking that gives rise
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