Adding is favoured over subtracting in problem solving

Meyvis, Tom; Yoon, Heeyoung

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00592-0

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07 April 2021

Adding is favoured over subtracting in problem solving

A series of problem-solving experiments reveal that people are more likely to consider solutions that add features than solutions that remove them, even when removing features is more efficient.

Tom Meyvis⁰ &
Heeyoung Yoon¹

Tom Meyvis
1. Tom Meyvis is in the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA.
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Heeyoung Yoon
1. Heeyoung Yoon is in the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA.
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Consider the Lego structure depicted in Figure 1, in which a figurine is placed under a roof supported by a single pillar at one corner. How would you change this structure so that you could put a masonry brick on top of it without crushing the figurine, bearing in mind that each block added costs 10 cents? If you are like most participants in a study reported by Adams et al.¹ in Nature, you would add pillars to better support the roof. But a simpler (and cheaper) solution would be to remove the existing pillar, and let the roof simply rest on the base. Across a series of similar experiments, the authors observe that people consistently consider changes that add components over those that subtract them — a tendency that has broad implications for everyday decision-making.

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Nature 592, 189-190 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00592-0

References

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