Insight and Memory

Moments of sudden Insight may not be completely discontinuous with preceding experience--often enough something seems to trigger them. In this respect, Insight is similar to recollection, of two types. First, there is the sudden resolution of what had been an annoying memory block, and, second, there is the unexpected arrival of what seemed to be more deeply buried memories. Both these types tend to encourage Associationist theories of Mind, because such experiences are easily interpreted as a given element evoking, and, thus, prompting the retrieval of, another element, with which it has been linked. However, moments of Insight show the shortcoming of Associationism as a general theory of Mind. The latter better explains the retrieval of conjoined elements than the original conjoining, the most prominent Associationist thesis of which is Humean 'habit'. In contrast, moments of Insight entail creative syntheses, often, but not always, with the trigger as an ingredient. Furthermore, when the product of a synthesis is specific to the singular circumstances, it is difficult to characterize the process as 'habit-formation'. Likewise, therefore, Insight is distinct from recollection, which is generally more amenable to an Associationist explanation.