Non-LIFO (Last In, First Out) Goal Selection
The authors argue that a LIFO goal stack is inconsistent with
human cognition using two examples. First
the example of the "evening chores" states that if an individual's goal stack
were LIFO, then after eating breakfast, the goal "Clean breakfast dishes" would
be pushed on the stack. Upon arrival home, the goal "Prepare dinner" would be
pushed on the stack. LIFO requires that dinner be prepared first and this is
commonly violated.
In the second example, the authors performed a
rational analysis of
the columnar subtraction task and determined all possible LIFO-successful
goal structures. Several elementary students were given subtraction problems
which were to be solved using the columnar method. Eight of the students
performed the subtractions using techniques that could not be solved by a
LIFO goal structure yet which were consistently employed by the students.