Research Design Connections: Subtracting!
Klotz, Adams, and Converse studied human problem solving; their findings are relevant wherever and whenever humans act. A press release related to the trio’s work (recently published in Nature) reports that “When considering two broad possibilities for why people systematically default to addition – either they generate ideas for both possibilities and disproportionately discard subtractive solutions or they overlook subtractive ideas altogether. Additive ideas come to mind quickly and easily, but subtractive ideas require more cognitive effort,” Converse said. Focusing on why that is the case, the researchers think there may be a self-reinforcing effect. “The more often people rely on additive strategies, the more cognitively accessible they become,” Adams said. “Over time, the habit of looking for additive ideas may get stronger and stronger, and in the long run, we end up missing out on many opportunities to improve the world by subtraction.” Klotz added, “I think our research has tremendous implications …
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