Rate My Professor John Kounios

John Kounios, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University. He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan (1985), an MS in Psychology from the University of Michigan (1983), and a BA in Psychology and Music from Haverford College (1978). As a psychology professor, Kounios has published extensively in cognitive neuroscience, focusing on insight (Aha moments), creativity, problem solving, memory, aging, and Alzheimer’s Disease. His research employs high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the neural basis of these processes. Key research interests include individual differences in problem-solving styles, the role of resting-state brain activity in predicting insight, and factors influencing creative thinking.

Kounios co-authored the international bestseller The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain (Random House, 2015). Seminal publications from his lab demonstrate that Aha moments involve a sudden shift in brain activity (Smith & Kounios, 1996; Jung-Beeman et al., 2004; Oh et al., 2020); insightful solutions are often more accurate for certain problems (Salvi et al., 2016); preparatory brain activity predicts problem-solving approach (Kounios et al., 2006; Zhu et al., 2021); resting-state activity forecasts insight propensity (Erickson et al., 2018); positive mood promotes insights while negative mood aids analytical thinking (Subramaniam et al., 2009); instructions to be creative can enhance performance temporarily (Rosen et al., 2017); and visual disengagement precedes insights (Salvi et al., 2015). Funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, his work has over 14,000 Google Scholar citations, featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (London), National Public Radio, BBC Television, and Discovery Science Channel documentaries. It was profiled in The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post and appears in a permanent exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Kounios is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Psychonomic Society.