Last week, we looked at the following study:
The Psychology of the Monty Hall Problem: Discovering Psychological
Mechanisms for Solving a Tenacious Brain Teaser.
Like
many of you, I loved watching “Let’s Make a Deal” when Monty Hall
hosted years ago. What fun it was to cheer on the lucky, crazy dressed
person that
was chosen from the audience! If you were like me, you sat in your own
living room, yelling at the TV what you thought they should do! “Go
with door 3!” Whenever the contestant chose the wrong door, we felt a
sense of loss with them.
This study looks at what is known as “The Monty Hall
Problem” (or three-door problem). In summary, this is what the study found:
The Monty Hall Problem is a famous example of a “cognitive
illusion,” often used to demonstrate people’s resistance and deficiency
in dealing with uncertainty. The authors of this study formulated the
problem using manipulations in 4 cognitive aspects,
namely, natural frequencies, mental models, perspective change, and the
less-is-more effect. These manipulations combined led to a significant
increase in the proportion of correct answers given by participants.
Until now, all experimental studies have had similar results: The
vast majority of participants think that switching and staying are
equally good alternatives and decide to stay. This study found that
switching is indeed better.
For our weekly Brain Teaser, I used the following question:
There
are three houses built exactly the same. One is filled with cotton, the
other with wood, and the third with iron. One day an arsonist sets them
all on fire. The
sound of sirens was growing louder at the scene. People were screaming.
Which house did the ambulance try to put the fire out at first? The
answer was: Ambulances do not put out fires.
This
answer stumped everyone on the team that replied, except for Tim
B., our massage therapist here at The Franciscan Center. Good job
Tim!
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