People overlook subtractive changes differently depending on age, culture, and task
Joshua Juvrud1, Laurence Myers2,3, Pär Nyström4
1Department of Game Design, Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, Visby, Sweden. Joshua.juvrud@speldesign.uu.se.
Scientific Reports
|January 11, 2024
Summary
Children and adults exhibit a "subtraction neglect," favoring adding elements over removing them. This study found that 9-10-year-old children are more prone to this cognitive bias than adults, with variations across tasks and cultures.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
Background:
- Previous research indicates adults prefer additive solutions over subtractive ones when modifying structures.
- A 'subtraction neglect' has been observed, where individuals overlook opportunities to remove components.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate and extend previous findings on subtraction neglect.
- To investigate this bias in children (9-10 years old) and across different cultures (USA and Sweden).
- To explore task-specific and cultural variations in strategy use.
Main Methods:
- Replication of Lego building and grid-based symmetry tasks.
- Introduction of a novel digital puzzle task.
- Comparison of strategy use in children and adults across two cultures.
Main Results:
- Children aged 9-10 years were more likely to ignore subtractive transformations than adults.
- Adults demonstrated task-based and cultural variations in strategy selection between Sweden and the USA.
- Partial confirmation of previous findings regarding additive bias.
Conclusions:
- Subtraction neglect is influenced by age, with younger children showing a stronger tendency to overlook subtractive solutions.
- Cognitive processes underlying subtraction neglect are complex and modulated by task demands and cultural context.
- Findings highlight the interplay of age, task, and culture in problem-solving strategies.
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