insight learning

a cognitive form of learning involving the mental rearrangement or restructuring of the elements in a problem to achieve a sudden understanding of the problem and arrive at a solution. Insight learning was described by Wolfgang Köhler in the 1920s, based on his observations of apes stacking boxes or using sticks to retrieve food, and was offered as an alternative to trial-and-error learning.

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Psychology term of the day

November 21st 2024

androsterone

n. a steroid hormone, secreted by the adrenal cortex and testis, with weak androgenic effects.