This paper is a review of the available literature on intuition and related concepts, including tacit knowledge, insight, and creativity. Definitions of intuition are discussed, and attempts have been made to distinguish among intuition, insight, and creativity. Relationships between intuition and tacit knowledge, and intuition and creativity are explored. Types of intuition as proposed by Vaughan in 1979 and Goldberg in 1989 are described, as are hypotheses about how intuition works. Available empirical research is presented, along with a number of possible avenues for other research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AgorW. H. (Ed.) (1989) Intuition in organisations: leading and managing productively.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2.
AgorW. H. (1991) How intuition can be used to enhance creativity in organizations. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 25(1), 11–19.
3.
BastickT. (1982) Intuition: how we think and act.New York: Wiley.
4.
BowersK. S. (1984) On being unconsciously informed. In BowersK. S. & MeichenbaumD. (Eds.), The unconscious reconsidered.Chichester, UK: Wiley.
5.
BowersK. S. (1987) Intuition and discovery. In SternR. (Ed.), Theories of the unconscious and theories of the self.Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press. Pp. 71–90.
6.
BowersK. S.RegehrG.BalthazardC., & ParkerK. (1990) Intuition in the context of discovery. Cognitive Psychology, 22, 72–110.
7.
BrownH. D.KosslynS. M.BreiterH. C., & BaerL. (1994) Can patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder discriminate between percepts and mental images? A signal detection analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 445–454.
8.
CosierR. A., & AplinJ. C. (1982) Intuition and decision making: some empirical evidence. Psychological Reports, 51, 275–281.
9.
Denes-RajV., & EpsteinS. (1994) Conflict between intuitive and rational processing: when people behave against their better judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 819–829.
10.
DrorI. E., & KosslynS. M. (1994) Mental imagery and aging. Psychology and Aging, 9, 90–102.
11.
DrorI. E.KosslynS. M., & WaagW. L. (1993) Visual-spatial abilities of pilots. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 763–773.
12.
EkmanP. (1992) An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169–200.
13.
EmmoreyK.KosslynS. M., & BellugiU. (1993) Visual imagery and visual-spatial language: enhanced imagery abilities in deaf and hearing ASL signersCognition, 46, 139–181.
14.
FallikB., & EliotJ. (1985) Intuition, cognitive style, and hemispheric processing. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 60, 683–697.
15.
FallikB., & EliotJ. (1986) An examination of possible age differences in interrelationships between intuition, cognitive style, and hemispheric preference variables. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 63, 1251–1257.
16.
FiniceR. A.WardT. B., & SmithS. M. (1992) Creative cognition: theory, research, and applications.Boston, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
17.
FischbeinE. (1975) The intuitive sources of probabilistic thinking in children.Amsterdam: D. Reidel.
18.
GriffinD., & TverskyA. (1992) The weighting of evidence and the determinants of confidence. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 411–435.
19.
GoldbergP. (1989) The intuitive experience. In AgorW. H. (Ed.), Intuition in organisations: leading and managing productively.Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pp. 121–134.
20.
GoldsmithR. E. (1985) Sensation seeking and the Sensing-Intuition Scale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Psychological Reports, 56, 581–582.
21.
HeronJ (1992) Feeling and personhood: psychology in another keyLondon: Sage.
22.
HinesT. (1987) Left brain/right brain mythology and implications for management and training. Academy of Management Review, 12, 600–606.
23.
HishitaniS., & MurakamiS. (1992) What is vividness of imagery? Characteristics of vivid visual imagery. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75, 1291–1307.
24.
HorvathJ. A.ForsytheG. B.SweeneyP. J.McNallyJ. A.WattendorfJ.WilliamsW. M., & SternbergR. J. (1994a) Tacit knowledge in military leadership: evidence from officer interviews.U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
25.
HorvathJ. A.WilliamsW. M.ForsytheG. B.SweeneyP. J.SternbergR. J.McNallyJ. A., & WattendorfJ. (1994b) Tacit knowledge in military leadership: a review of the literature.U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
26.
JacobsR. A., & KosslynS. M. (1994) Encoding shape and spatial relations: the role of receptive field size in coordinating complementary representations. Cognitive Science, 18, 361–386.
27.
KleinmuntzB. (1990) Why we still use our heads instead of formulas: toward an integrative approach. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 296–310.
28.
MetznerR. (1980) Correlations between Eysenck's, Jung's, and Sheldon's typologies. Psychological Reports, 47, 343–348.
29.
MitchellT. R., & BeachL. R. (1990) “… Do I love thee? let me count…”: toward an understanding of intuitive and automatic decision making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 47, 1–20.
30.
MyersI. B., & McCaulleyM. H. (1986) Manual: a guide to the development and use of the MBTI.Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
31.
NeisserU. (1963) The multiplicity of thought. British Journal of Psychology.54, 1–14.
32.
NikolinakosD. D. (1992) Freud on dreams and Kosslyn on mental imageryJournal of Mind and Behaviour, 13, 397–411.
33.
NisbettR. E., & WilsonT. D. (1977) Telling more than we can know: verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231–259.
34.
NuttP. C. (1989) Making tough decisions: tactics for improving managerial decision making.San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
35.
O'HaireT. D., & MarciaJ. E. (1980) Some personality characteristics associated with Ananda Marga mediators: a pilot study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 51, 447–452.
36.
PetersJ. T.HammondK. R., & SummersD. A. (1974) A note on intuitive vs analytic thinking. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 12, 125–131.
37.
RayM., & MyersR. (1989) Practical intuition. In AgorW. H. (Ed.), Intuition in organizations: leading and managing productively.Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pp. 142–156.
38.
ReberA. S. (1989) Implicit learning and tacit knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 118, 219–235.
39.
RehmJ. T., & GadenneV. (1990) Intuitive predictions and professional forecasts: cognitive processes and social consequences.Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
40.
RockensteinZ. (1988) Intuitive processes in executive decision making. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 22(2), 77–84.
41.
RowanR. (1989) What it is. In AgorW. H. (Ed.), Intuition in organizations: leading and managing productivelyNewbury Park, CA: Sage.
42.
SimontonD. K. (1975) Creativity, task complexity, and intuitive versus analytical problem solving. Psychological Reports, 37, 351–354.
43.
SimontonD. K. (1980) Intuition and analysis: a predictive and explanatory model. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 102, 3–60.
SpringbettB. M.DarkJ. G., & ClarkeJ. (1957) An approach to the measurement of creative thinking. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 11(1), 9–20.
46.
StocksJ. L. (1939) Reason and intuition and other essays.Oxford, UK: Oxford Univer. Press.
47.
RehmJ. T., & GadenneV. (1990) Intuitive predictions and professional forecasts: cognitive processes and social consequences.Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
48.
TetlockP. E., & KimJ. I. (1987) Accountability and judgment processes in a personality prediction task. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.52, 700–709.
49.
ValentineC. W. (1929) The relative reliability of men and women in intuitive judgements of character. British Journal of Psychology, 19, 213–238.
50.
VaughanF. E. (1979) Awakening intuition.Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.
51.
WertheimerM. (1989) Max Wertheimer's challenging legacy. Psychological Research, 51, 69–74.
52.
WestcottM. R. (1961) On the measurement of intuitive leaps. Psychological Reports, 9, 267–274.
53.
WestcottM. R. (1966) A note on the stability of intuitive thinking. Psychological Reports, 19, 194.
54.
WestcottM. R. (1968) Towards a contemporary psychology of intuition.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
55.
WestcottM. R., & RanzoniJ. H. (1963) Correlates of intuitive thinking. Psychological Reports, 12, 595–613.
56.
WestmanA. S., & CanterF. M. (1979) Relationship between certain circadian behavior patterns and Jungian personality types. Psychological Reports, 44, 1199–1204.
57.
WildK. W. (1938) Intuition.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univer. Press.
58.
WonderJ., & BlakeJ. (1992) Creativity East and West: intuition vs logic?Journal of Creative Behavior, 26(3), 172–185.
