Physical cleansing reduces the mindset effect in problem-solving

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated whether physical cleansing can reduce the mindset effect in problem-solving in two experiments. Both experiments followed the same procedure. In the first stage, participants formed a mindset through the Luchins’ water-jar task (Experiment 1) or the idiom maze task (Experiment 2). The second stage is cleansing manipulation. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to clean their hands with wipes (cleansing condition) or examine the packaging of the wipes (no-cleansing condition). In Experiment 2, participants were asked to watch a washing-hands video (cleansing condition) or watch an examining-pen video (no-cleansing condition). At last, all participants completed the mindset effect test problems. The results showed that the participants in the cleansing condition were less affected by the mindset than those in the no-cleansing condition, indicating that physical cleansing reduced the mindset effect. Our results provide new evidence for the clean-slate effects and support the hypothesis that physical cleansing is an embodied process of psychological separation.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical cleansing
• clean-slate effects
• mindset effect
• embodied cognition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 According to Luchins (1942), only when no problem in the test of the mindset effect is solved by the set method can it be called “elimination” of the mindset effect. However, no previous research has found that the mindset effect can be “eliminated”. Therefore, this study examined whether physical cleansing could “reduce” rather than “eliminate” the mindset effect.

2 Note: In the actual experiment, A, B and C were not marked on the water jar.

3 All participants successfully solved problems 8–11 and there were only two outcomes.

4 Due to the epidemic situation, experiment 2 was carried out online by the remote control software of Sunlogin.

5 Chinese idioms are fixed phrases that have been used and refined over time in the Chinese language. Most of them are in the form of four characters.

Additional information

Funding

Our Fund is the Open Research Fund of Psychology Department of Zhejiang Normal University in 2022.