Zusatztext 50711172 Informationen zum Autor John Kounios! Ph.D.! is a professor of psychology at Drexel University and director of its doctoral program in Applied Cognitive and Brain Sciences. He has published cognitive neuroscience research on insight! creativity! problem solving! memory! and Alzheimer's disease. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Psychonomic Society and serves on a National Science Foundation advisory panel. Mark Beeman! Ph.D.! is a professor of psychology at Northwestern University! where he studies the brain bases of creative cognition and problem solving! how mood affects attention and cognition! and how the right and left sides of the brain differ in function. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health! the National Science Foundation! the John Templeton Foundation! and the Office of Naval Research. He is a Kavli fellow of the National Academy of Sciences! a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science! and serves on a National Science Foundation advisory panel. Kounios and Beeman's research on insight has been featured in The New York Times! The Wall Street Journal! and The Times (U.K.)! as well as on National Public Radio and in a BBC Television documentary. Their work was profiled in The New Yorker and is part of an exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. 1 New Light, New Sight But who can count or weigh such lightning flashes of the mind? Who can trace out the secret threads by which our conceptions are united? Hermann von Helmholtz, scientist Helen Keller didn't know what a word was. When she was nineteen months old, a brief illness left her permanently deaf and blind, preventing her from learning to speak. Eventually, she developed a few signs for basic communication, but they were just gestures. She was imprisoned within a world of palpable objects. The realm of words and ideas was beyond her grasp. In 1887, when Helen was six years old, her parents hired a young teacher named Anne Sullivan to tutor her at home. Anne, who became Helen's lifelong friend and companion, attempted to teach Helen words by tracing them on her young student's palms. Helen learned several tracings this way, but she wasn't able to comprehend that they were words. I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation, she later explained. One day, Helen and Anne had a tussle over the words mug and water. Helen couldn't connect the tracings with their respective objects. At a later lesson, she became upset and smashed her doll. Anne tried a different approach. She took Helen to the well house and directed her to hold her mug under the spout while Anne pumped water. As the water poured over Helen's mug and hand, Anne traced the letters w-a-t-e-r on Helen's other hand. That's when it happened. According to Anne, The coming so close upon the sensation of the cold water rushing over her hand seemed to startle her. She dropped the mug and stood as one transfixed. A new light came into her face. As Helen later explained, I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgottena thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-r meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living joy awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! In that amazing instant, Helen realized that the scribbles on her hand represented objects in the world and that she could use these symbols to think and to communicate with others. I left the well-house eager to le...

ldquo;Delicious . . . In The Eureka Factor, neuroscientists John Kounios and Mark Beeman give many other examples of [a] kind of lightning bolt of insight, but back this up with the latest brain-imaging research.”—Newsweek
 
“An incredible accomplishment . . . [The Eureka Factor] is not just a chronicle of the journey that numerous scientists (including the authors) have taken to examine insight but is also a fascinating guide to how advances in science are made in general. Messrs. Kounios and Beeman examine how a parade of clever experiments can be designed to answer specific questions and rule out alternative possibilities. . . . Wonderful ideas appear as if out of nowhere—and we are delighted.”—The Wall Street Journal

“An excellent title for those interested in neuroscience or creativity . . . The writing is engaging and readable, mixing stories of famous perceptions with explanations of how such revelations happen, and including suggestions throughout to help people become more insightful.”—Library Journal (starred review)
 
“Kounios and Beeman, distinguished neuroscientists with more than twenty years of cognitive research to their credit, examine such incidents of insight, juxtaposing the mere wonder of it all with the quantifiable science behind how the brain functions. . . . Knowing how and when the brain can spark at maximum responsiveness can open up a world of inventiveness and inspiration. A lively and accessible ‘brain’ book with wide appeal.”—Booklist
 
“Readers curious to know what happens when we solve a problem in a flash will find the latest research here [and] will appreciate [this] ingenious, thoughtful update on how the mind works.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The Eureka Factor presents a fascinating and illuminating account of the creative process and how to foster it.”—James J. Heckman, Nobel laureate in economics, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago
 
“A vigorous voyage inside the mind to understand those electrifying but elusive moments of discovery—and how we can have them more often.”—Adam Grant, professor, Wharton School, and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take
 
“The Eureka Factor is a highly engaging and informative look into sudden creative insights. John Kounios and Mark Beeman convincingly show that what once seemed to be a mysterious feature of the human mind is yielding to dramatic advances in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Combining state-of-the-art research with compelling everyday examples, this book is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered what makes it possible to experience an aha moment.”—Daniel L. Schacter, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Seven Sins of Memory
 
“Kounios and Beeman bring insight down to earth in the best of all possible ways. They offer a whirlwind tour through fascinating examples and cutting-edge science to reveal the essence of the aha moment.”—Deborah Prentice, dean of the faculty, professor of psychology and public affairs, Princeton University
 
“Two pioneers in the field take us on a spirited tour of one of the greatest of all human experiences: the aha moment. This remarkably readable book provides a uniquely authoritative discussion of the science of creativity.”—Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychological and brain sciences, U.C. Santa Barbara
 
“An especially welcome new contribution to our understanding of how human creativity really works, written in a rigorous but lively and engaging style accessible to a broad range of readers . . . Anyone seeking to spark more creativity in his or her life should delve into The Eureka Factor.”**—David E. Meyer, Ph.D., member of the National Academy of Sciences, professor …