Editing Problem solving (section)

===Irrelevant information===
{{See also|Information overload|Mass media}}
Irrelevant information is a specification or data presented in a problem that is unrelated to the solution.<ref name="Kellogg, R. T. 2003" /> If the solver assumes that all information presented needs to be used, this often derails the problem solving process, making relatively simple problems much harder.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2010|title=From walls to windows: Using barriers as pathways to insightful solutions|journal=The Journal of Creative Behavior|volume=44|issue=3|pages=143–167|doi=10.1002/j.2162-6057.2010.tb01331.x|last1=Walinga|first1=Jennifer}}</ref>

For example: "Fifteen percent of the people in Topeka have unlisted telephone numbers. You select 200 names at random from the Topeka phone book. How many of these people have unlisted phone numbers?"{{r|Weiten, Wayne 2011}}{{page needed|date=September 2023}} The "obvious" answer is 15%, but in fact none of the unlisted people would be listed among the 200. This kind of "[[trick question]]" is often used in aptitude tests or cognitive evaluations.<ref name="Walinga, Jennifer 2011">{{cite journal|last1=Walinga|first1=Jennifer|last2=Cunningham|first2=J. Barton|last3=MacGregor|first3=James N.|year=2011|title=Training insight problem solving through focus on barriers and assumptions|journal=The Journal of Creative Behavior|volume=45 |pages=47–58 |doi=10.1002/j.2162-6057.2011.tb01084.x }}</ref> Though not inherently difficult, they require independent thinking that is not necessarily common. Mathematical [[Word problem (mathematics education)|word problem]]s often include irrelevant qualitative or numerical information as an extra challenge.