October 22, 2025 • 10 mins
Today I wanted to discuss a nifty piece of research that I came across some time ago and how it applies to behaviour.
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Episode Transcript
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Penelope Webb (00:05):
Welcome to The Exceptional Humans Podcast,
where we discuss questionsrelated to language, identity,
education, and behavior.
I'm your host, Penelope and Ihave a background in education,
linguistics, and behavioralscience.
Today I wanted to discuss anifty piece of research that I
came across some time ago andhow it applies to behaviour.
(00:30):
In this research published inthe Journal Nature, a University
of Virginia team, researchedwhat would happen when
participants were givenpractical problem solving tasks
to complete.
These tasks included solvingeight puzzles and problems that
(00:55):
could be solved by adding orremoving items.
For example, one puzzle requiredparticipants to either shade in
or erase squares on a grid tomake a pattern symmetrical.
(01:18):
In another task, participantswere to add or subtract items
from a travel itinerary tooptimize a holiday.
The interesting thing that thisexperiment found was that
regardless of the puzzle orproblem to be solved, the
(01:40):
majority of the time, theparticipants chose an additive
problem solving method insteadof one based on subtraction.
There may be a couple of reasonswhy humans tend to default to an
additive problem solving methodoverlooking the possibilities of
(02:07):
subtractive solutions.
The first reason may be thatadditive ideas tend to come to
mind more easily and quicklythan subtractive ideas, which
may require more thought.
(02:29):
Therefore, humans may accept anadditive solution without even
considering a subtractivesolution at all as they come to
mind more quickly during theproblem solving process.
(02:50):
This may be self-reinforcing asrapid solutions are often
rewarded within our institutionsand organizations.
Additionally, modern consumerbehavior also reinforces the
(03:15):
idea that we can solve ourproblems through purchasing
items.
This research is particularlyinteresting when we consider it
in relation to changingbehavior.
Often when we wish to change abehavior, we look at what we can
(03:42):
do to create behavioral momentumand therefore behavior change.
And the important word in thatsentence is do.
Very rarely do we consider whatwe can stop doing in order to
(04:06):
create behavioral change.
The few times that we doconsider stopping doing an
action are usually instanceswhere stopping that action is
(04:27):
either inappropriate, impossibleor inefficient.
Generally examples of theseconcern things such as food
intake, usually dieting, orstopping the consumption of
(04:49):
something with addictiveproperties, this could range
from caffeine to cigarettes tovaping to the use of
recreational substances.
However, a subtractive problemsolving approach can be
(05:10):
incredibly successful whenapplied to other behavioral
concerns that we may beexperiencing in our day-to-day
lives.
Doing less, having less, addingless can be incredibly effective
(05:33):
in regulating our sensory andnervous system, reducing
adversive stimuli and allowingus to contact reinforcement.
(05:54):
I will give you an example Iexperienced in supporting a
family with two neurodivergentchildren requiring behavior
support.
There was a plethora of concernsaround behavioral triggers,
behaviors of concern andincidents occurring from the
moment the family woke up.
(06:17):
Mum was extremely engaged inproviding support for the kids,
however, was experiencing quiteconsiderable career burnout
resulting in reduced parentalcapacity and considerable
frustration around her abilityto complete the activities of
daily living that she needed toengage in because of barriers to
(06:42):
her children's engagement intheir own activities of daily
living, such as getting out ofbed and eating breakfast.
This resulted in a situationwhere every morning the day
began with behaviors of concern.
(07:03):
Mom asked me what they could do.
What did they need to add?
What could they try?
And having worked with thisfamily for a while and having
seen just how much was alreadyin place, it actually became
fairly evident that there was adesperate need to do less, not
(07:26):
more.
What we actually ended uptrialing was a subtractive
approach.
We switched two components ofthe morning routine.
Previously, mom had doneeverything she had to do to get
the children out of bed andhaving breakfast before she went
and exercised.
My suggestion was that wetrialed getting her exercising,
(07:53):
then following up with thechildren about breakfast.
Mom would place preferredbreakfast items ready for the
children on the kitchen bench.
Inform the children thatbreakfast was available for them
and that she was going to go andcomplete her exercises.
(08:14):
She was exercising within thehome and her exercise regime
ranged from 20 minutes to anhour in length, depending on the
type of activity she was engagedin.
Clear expectations wereestablished that if the children
were not up and eating breakfastor had not finished eating
(08:38):
breakfast, by the time momfinished exercising, she would
be supporting them in thoseactivities as well as taking any
medications that they needed totake.
This subtractive problem solvingapproach was very effective in
(09:00):
reducing conflict in thehousehold first thing in the
morning, as well as reducing theincidents of behaviors of
concern.
The subtractive problem solvingapproach also explains why we
tend to experience positivemental health outcomes when we
(09:22):
do less, particularly when we dothings such as go on holidays.
On holidays, we do notexperience the same pressure and
stresses that we do from ourday-to-day life, engaging in
school, work and othercommitments.
(09:42):
A subtractive problem solvingapproach reduces the mental
load, reducing stress and beinga protective factor in the
longer term.
I'd be very curious to know ifyou have ever tried a
subtractive problem solvingapproach in creating behaviors
(10:03):
change for yourself or othersthat you care for.
And if you have had a positiveexperience with this approach.
The Exceptional Humans Podcastis written and recorded on Kabi
Kabi and Jinibara lands.
We would like to pay ourrespects to their elders past,
(10:23):
present, and emerging, and payour respects to all Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanderpeoples listening today.
Welcome to The Exceptional Humans Podcast,
where we discuss questionsrelated to language, identity,
education, and behavior.
I'm your host, Penelope and Ihave a background in education,
linguistics, and behavioralscience.
Today I wanted to discuss anifty piece of research that I
came across some time ago andhow it applies to behaviour.
(00:30):
In this research published inthe Journal Nature, a University
of Virginia team, researchedwhat would happen when
participants were givenpractical problem solving tasks
to complete.
These tasks included solvingeight puzzles and problems that
(00:55):
could be solved by adding orremoving items.
For example, one puzzle requiredparticipants to either shade in
or erase squares on a grid tomake a pattern symmetrical.
(01:18):
In another task, participantswere to add or subtract items
from a travel itinerary tooptimize a holiday.
The interesting thing that thisexperiment found was that
regardless of the puzzle orproblem to be solved, the
(01:40):
majority of the time, theparticipants chose an additive
problem solving method insteadof one based on subtraction.
There may be a couple of reasonswhy humans tend to default to an
additive problem solving methodoverlooking the possibilities of
(02:07):
subtractive solutions.
The first reason may be thatadditive ideas tend to come to
mind more easily and quicklythan subtractive ideas, which
may require more thought.
(02:29):
Therefore, humans may accept anadditive solution without even
considering a subtractivesolution at all as they come to
mind more quickly during theproblem solving process.
(02:50):
This may be self-reinforcing asrapid solutions are often
rewarded within our institutionsand organizations.
Additionally, modern consumerbehavior also reinforces the
(03:15):
idea that we can solve ourproblems through purchasing
items.
This research is particularlyinteresting when we consider it
in relation to changingbehavior.
Often when we wish to change abehavior, we look at what we can
(03:42):
do to create behavioral momentumand therefore behavior change.
And the important word in thatsentence is do.
Very rarely do we consider whatwe can stop doing in order to
(04:06):
create behavioral change.
The few times that we doconsider stopping doing an
action are usually instanceswhere stopping that action is
(04:27):
either inappropriate, impossibleor inefficient.
Generally examples of theseconcern things such as food
intake, usually dieting, orstopping the consumption of
(04:49):
something with addictiveproperties, this could range
from caffeine to cigarettes tovaping to the use of
recreational substances.
However, a subtractive problemsolving approach can be
(05:10):
incredibly successful whenapplied to other behavioral
concerns that we may beexperiencing in our day-to-day
lives.
Doing less, having less, addingless can be incredibly effective
(05:33):
in regulating our sensory andnervous system, reducing
adversive stimuli and allowingus to contact reinforcement.
(05:54):
I will give you an example Iexperienced in supporting a
family with two neurodivergentchildren requiring behavior
support.
There was a plethora of concernsaround behavioral triggers,
behaviors of concern andincidents occurring from the
moment the family woke up.
(06:17):
Mum was extremely engaged inproviding support for the kids,
however, was experiencing quiteconsiderable career burnout
resulting in reduced parentalcapacity and considerable
frustration around her abilityto complete the activities of
daily living that she needed toengage in because of barriers to
(06:42):
her children's engagement intheir own activities of daily
living, such as getting out ofbed and eating breakfast.
This resulted in a situationwhere every morning the day
began with behaviors of concern.
(07:03):
Mom asked me what they could do.
What did they need to add?
What could they try?
And having worked with thisfamily for a while and having
seen just how much was alreadyin place, it actually became
fairly evident that there was adesperate need to do less, not
(07:26):
more.
What we actually ended uptrialing was a subtractive
approach.
We switched two components ofthe morning routine.
Previously, mom had doneeverything she had to do to get
the children out of bed andhaving breakfast before she went
and exercised.
My suggestion was that wetrialed getting her exercising,
(07:53):
then following up with thechildren about breakfast.
Mom would place preferredbreakfast items ready for the
children on the kitchen bench.
Inform the children thatbreakfast was available for them
and that she was going to go andcomplete her exercises.
(08:14):
She was exercising within thehome and her exercise regime
ranged from 20 minutes to anhour in length, depending on the
type of activity she was engagedin.
Clear expectations wereestablished that if the children
were not up and eating breakfastor had not finished eating
(08:38):
breakfast, by the time momfinished exercising, she would
be supporting them in thoseactivities as well as taking any
medications that they needed totake.
This subtractive problem solvingapproach was very effective in
(09:00):
reducing conflict in thehousehold first thing in the
morning, as well as reducing theincidents of behaviors of
concern.
The subtractive problem solvingapproach also explains why we
tend to experience positivemental health outcomes when we
(09:22):
do less, particularly when we dothings such as go on holidays.
On holidays, we do notexperience the same pressure and
stresses that we do from ourday-to-day life, engaging in
school, work and othercommitments.
(09:42):
A subtractive problem solvingapproach reduces the mental
load, reducing stress and beinga protective factor in the
longer term.
I'd be very curious to know ifyou have ever tried a
subtractive problem solvingapproach in creating behaviors
(10:03):
change for yourself or othersthat you care for.
And if you have had a positiveexperience with this approach.
The Exceptional Humans Podcastis written and recorded on Kabi
Kabi and Jinibara lands.
We would like to pay ourrespects to their elders past,
(10:23):
present, and emerging, and payour respects to all Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanderpeoples listening today.
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