BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 563

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 563 – PASSAGE – 2

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 563

READING PASSAGE – 2

Creative Problem-Solving

Puzzle-solving is an ancient, universal practice, scholars say, and it depends on creative insight, or a primitive spark. Now, modern neuroscientists are beginning to tap its source

A. In a recent study, researchers at Northwestern University in the United States found that people were more likely to solve word puzzles with sudden insight when they were amused, having just seen a short comedy routine. ‘What we think is happening,’ said Dr Mark Beeman, a neuroscientist who worked on the study, ‘is that the humor, this positive mood, is lowering the brain’s threshold for detecting weaker or more remote connections,’ which enable people to solve puzzles.

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B. This suggests that the appeal of puzzles goes far deeper than the pleasant rush of finding a solution. The very act of doing a puzzle typically shifts the brain into an open, playful state that is itself a pleasing escape. Unlike the social and professional mysteries in the real world, puzzles are reassuringly solvable; but like any serious problem, they require more than mere intellect to crack. ‘It’s imagination, it’s inference, it’s guessing; and much of it is happening subconsciously,’ said Dr Marcel Danesi, a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, Canada.

‘It’s all about you, using your own mind, without any method or schema, to restore order from chaos,’ Danesi said. ‘And once you have, you can sit back and say, “Hey, the rest of my life may be a disaster, but at least I have a solution”.’

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C. For almost a century scientists have used puzzles to study what they call ‘insight thinking’, the leaps of understanding that seem to come out of the blue. In one experiment, the German psychologist Karl Duncker presented people with a candle, a box of pins, and the task of attaching the candle to a wall. About a quarter of the subjects thought to use the pins to tack the box to the wall as a support – some immediately, and others after failed efforts to tack wax to the wall. According to Duncker, the creative leap seems to have been informed by subconscious cues.

In another well-known experiment, psychologists H.G. Birch and H.s. Rabinowitz challenged people to tie together two cords; the cords were hanging from the ceiling of a large room, too far apart to be grabbed at the same time. A small percentage of people solved it without any help, by tying something else to one cord and swinging it like a pendulum so that it could be caught while they held the other cord. In some experiments researchers gave clues to those who were stumped – for instance, by bumping into one of the strings so that it swung. Many of those who then solved the problem said they had no recollection of the clue, though it very likely registered subconsciously.

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D. All along, researchers have debated the definitions of insight and analysis, and some have concluded that the two are merely different sides of the same coin. Yet in an authoritative discussion of the research carried out so far, the psychologists Jonathan w. Schooler and Joseph Melcher concluded that the abilities most strongly correlated with insight problem-solving ‘were not significantly correlated’ with solving analytical problems. Either way, creative problem-solving usually requires both analysis and insight. Adam Anderson, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, Canada, argues that although when people are solving problems they may move back and forth between these abilities, they are truly different brain states.

E. At first, studies did little more than confirm that brain areas that register reward spiked in activity when people came up with a solution, that is to say once they had completed a puzzle. However, in a series of recent studies, John Kounios, a psychologist at Drexel University In the United States, has imaged people’s brains as they prepare to tackle a puzzle, but before they’ve seen it. Those whose brains show a particular signature of preparatory activity, one that is strongly correlated with positive moods, turn out to be more likely to solve the puzzles with sudden insight than with trial and error (the clues can be solved either way).

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Previous research has also found activation of cells in a certain area of the brain when people widen or narrow their attention – say, when they filter out distractions to focus on a difficult task, like concentrating on someone’s voice in a noisy room. In the case of insight puzzle-solving, the brain seems to widen its attention, in effect making itself more susceptible to distraction.

F. In the humor study, Beeman had college students solve word-association puzzles after watching a short video showing a stand-up comedian. Beeman found that these students solved more of the puzzles overall, and significantly more by sudden insight, compared with when they’d seen a scary or boring video beforehand. This ‘open’ state of mind does not only apply to intellectual puzzles. In a study published last year, researchers at the University of Toronto found that people in positive moods picked up more background detail, even when they were told to block out distracting information during a computer task.

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The findings fit with dozens of experiments linking positive moods to better creative problemsolving. The implication is that positive mood engages this broad, … attentional state that is both perceptual and visual,’ said Anderson. He explains that not only are people in a positive mood able to think more broadly, they are able to notice more visually.

Questions 14 – 19

Reading Passage 2 has six sections, A-F. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-F.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. a claim that people enjoy the process of doing puzzles as well as finding the answers

15. a review of studies that looked at the relationship between insight and analysis

16. the finding that people were less likely to solve puzzles after viewing uninteresting or disturbing material

17. a comparison between doing puzzles and dealing with life challenges

18. a description of a study where the subjects were given hints by those conducting the research

19. details of a study in which the focus shifted to mental activity before a puzzle is attempted

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Questions 20 – 23

Look at the following statements (Questions 20-23) and the list of researchers below. Match each statement with the correct researcher, A-E. Write the correct letter, A-E.

20. Solving a puzzle may help people facing difficulties feel better.

21. Two distinctly separate functions of the brain are used when solving puzzles.

22. Some subjects were able to find a solution to the puzzle they were given without knowing how they had done it.

23. Seeing something funny helps people make links that may not be obvious at first.

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List of Researchers

A. Mark Beeman

B. Marcel Danesi

C. Karl Duncker

D. Adam Anderson

E. John Kounios

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Questions 24 – 26

Choose ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Kounios builds on studies of puzzle-solvers’ brain activity

Early studies showed that when people solved a puzzle, the parts of the brain linked to reward were more active. Studies by Kounios reveal that when people are feeling 24 ……………. during the preparatory stage, it is more probable that they will use insight to solve puzzles. The part of the brain that is affected is connected with the adjustment of people’s attention. When someone is trying to listen to a 25…………………. when the general sound level is high, the focus narrows. When people solve puzzles using insight, their focus becomes wider, and they are more open to 26……………………

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