The Tower of Hanoi test

The famous Polish and British novelist Joseph Conrad said that the best way to solve any problem was to “face it, always face it, that is the way to solve the problem, face it!” In fact, he was quite strict about this. What results would he have obtained in the Tower of Hanoi test?

Today, psychologists have a good number of tools to measure and evaluate human abilities. One of them is the Tower of Hanoi test, which is used to understand behavior during problem solving.

Because psychology has already surpassed the phase in which it only used questionnaires and interviews as instruments to complete evaluations. Now, practical tests are able to reflect the cognitive abilities of an individual if administered correctly.

What is the Tower of Hanoi test?

The Tower of Hanoi test was originally designed as a purely mathematical problem. Today It is a basic tool to evaluate human abilities and measure executive functioning and planning capacity.

To solve this test, the person has to solve a problem mentally before making any movement. That is, you need to anticipate to complete the test, so some executive functions can be measured.

The test was created by Édouard Lucas, a French mathematician, in 1883. However, its main objective had nothing to do with psychology. It was in 1975 when it was understood that could be very useful to understand the articulation of our behavior and become a good test to evaluate skills.

For the design, Lucas was inspired by the construction of a Hindu temple. In it, the person has to solve through complex reasoning and the application of strategies the resolution of an enigma that involves certain learning mechanisms.

What is the test like?

The test consists of moving a tower of disks along three rods. The evaluator offers an initial configuration, and indicates a final one. The latter is the one that the evaluated person has to obtain. The tower, being made up of blocks and disks, implies that the person who completes the test must identify the final position.

But The test has a series of conditions that the person trying to solve the test must comply:

It has to be solved with the fewest possible number of moves.The resolution must also be carried out with the least number of errors.You cannot place a larger disk on top of a smaller one.Movements are allowed as long as they follow the same order in which the discs are placed. We start with those that are placed first. The discs will always be in one of the three axes, but never in the patient’s hand or on the table.

When this test is performed physically, If the person breaks any of these rules, they are warned and it is counted as an error. In the digital age, if this test is done from a computer or technological equipment, making these movements is directly prohibited, and it is warned with auditory signals.

Context and result

This test is carried out as a basic evaluation instrument for various fields, such as career guidance, psychological testing, personnel selection, teaching and even military and defense contexts and state security forces.

But why is it so important in certain contexts? Because with it we can get an idea of ​​a person’s problem-solving ability, as well as their ability to plan. That is, to solve it, you must design, organize, verify, etc., which makes it easier for the evaluator observe the subject’s adaptation to the environment.

So, while the test is being solved, you can observe the functioning of complex mental tasks, such as reasoning, flexibility, working memory, inhibition, decision making, dual execution, dual estimation and the ability to carry out different tasks at the same time (divided attention).

There are many tests that are capable of saying a lot about ourselves. Without a doubt, the Tower of Hanoi test is one of them. This exercise is fantasticsince decision making or problem solving are tasks that we face daily.

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