CANDLE PROBLEM

The candle problem or candle task, also known as Duncker's candle problem, is a cognitive performance test, measuring the influence of functional fixedness on a participant's problem solving capabilities. The one is given below:

You can now try this and later view the solution given below.

Many of the people who attempted the test explored other creative, but less efficient methods to achieve the goal. For example, some tried to tack the candle to the wall without using the thumbtack box, and others attempted to melt some of the candle’s wax and use it as an adhesive to stick the candle to the wall. Neither method works. However, if the task is presented with the tacks piled next to the box (rather than inside it), virtually all of the participants were shown to achieve the optimal solution, which is self-defined.

The solution is to empty the box of thumbtacks, put the candle into the box, use the thumbtacks to nail the box (with the candle in it) to the wall, and light the candle with the match. The concept of functional fixedness predicts that the participant will only see the box as a device to hold the thumbtacks and not immediately perceive it as a separate and functional component available to be used in solving the task.

As long as the task involved only mechanical skills, bonuses worked as they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance. But once the task called for “even rudimentary cognitive skills,” a larger reward led to poor performance. “In eight or nine tasks we examined across the three experiments, higher incentives led to worst performance.” We find that the financial incentives can result in a negative impact for overall performance.

You can google out and find many such examples or problems and check your problem solving ability. Such exercises really do help to stretch your ability.

Thank you for your time.