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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.
  1. 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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  2. 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

  1. Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H. & Klotz, L. E. Nature 592, 258–261 (2021).

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