Routine Problem Solving in Groups

Routines may help groups to effectively reduce coordination requirements when solving interdependent tasks. However, routine problem solving always involves the risk of a negative transfer, which appears if a routine is applied to novel problems even though it is inappropriate. In this experiment, negative transfer was produced by first teaching individuals a procedure for solving the Tower of Hanoi problem. Next, participants were asked to solve several transfer tasks either individually or in pairs. However, the routine could not be applied directly to the transfer tasks but led to a long detour. As expected, the individuals surpassed the dyads, who insisted more strongly on their routine. This result fits with studies that corroborate the claim that groups are prone to a “principle of inertia” when solving problems or making decisions.