Editing Tower of Hanoi (section)

== Applications ==
[[File:Palladium nanosheet on silicon wafer.jpg|thumb|3D AFM topographic image of multilayered palladium nanosheet on silicon wafer, with Tower of Hanoi-like structure.<ref name="Nano">{{cite journal|last1=Yin|first1=Xi|last2=Liu|first2=Xinhong|last3=Pan|first3=Yung-Tin|last4=Walsh|first4=Kathleen A.|last5=Yang|first5=Hong|title=Hanoi Tower-like Multilayered Ultrathin Palladium Nanosheets|journal=Nano Letters|date=November 4, 2014|doi=10.1021/nl503879a|pmid=25369350|volume=14|issue=12|pages=7188–94|bibcode=2014NanoL..14.7188Y}}</ref>]]
The Tower of Hanoi is frequently used in psychological research on [[problem-solving]]. There also exists a variant of this task called [[Tower of London Test|Tower of London]] for neuropsychological diagnosis and treatment of disorders of [[executive function]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1982-06-25 |title=Specific impairments of planning |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.1982.0082 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=298 |issue=1089 |pages=199–209 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1982.0082 |pmid=6125971 |issn=0080-4622 |last1=Shallice |first1=T. |bibcode=1982RSPTB.298..199S }}</ref>

Zhang and Norman<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0364-0213(94)90021-3|url=http://wexler.free.fr/library/files/zhang%20%281994%29%20representations%20in%20distributed%20cognitive%20tasks.pdf|title=Representations in distributed cognitive tasks|journal=Cognitive Science|volume=18|pages=87–122|year=1994|last=Zhang|first=J}}</ref> used several isomorphic (equivalent) representations of the game to study the impact of [[representational effect]] in task design. They demonstrated an impact on user performance by changing the way that the rules of the game are represented, using variations in the physical design of the game components. This knowledge has impacted on the development of the TURF framework<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2011.08.005|pmid=21867774|title=TURF: Toward a unified framework of EHR usability|journal=Journal of Biomedical Informatics|volume=44|issue=6|pages=1056–67|year=2011|last1=Zhang|first1=Jiajie|last2=Walji|first2=Muhammad F.|doi-access=free}}</ref> for the representation of [[human–computer interaction]].

The Tower of Hanoi is also used as a [[backup rotation scheme]] when performing computer data backups where multiple tapes/media are involved.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://doi.org/10.21236/ada218927 |title=Tower-Noticing Triggers Strategy-Change in the Tower of Hanoi: A Soar Model |last1=Ruiz |first1=Dirk |last2=Newell |first2=Allen |date=1989-06-01 |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |location=Fort Belvoir, VA|doi=10.21236/ada218927 }}</ref>

As mentioned above, the Tower of Hanoi is popular for teaching [[recursive algorithms]] to beginning programming students. A pictorial version of this puzzle is programmed into the [[emacs]] editor, accessed by typing M-x hanoi. There is also a sample algorithm written in [[Prolog]].{{citation needed |date=September 2023}}

The Tower of Hanoi is also used as a test by neuropsychologists trying to evaluate [[frontal lobe]] deficits.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ajp.156.5.777 | doi=10.1176/ajp.156.5.777| pmid=10327915| year=1999| last1=Beers| first1=S. R.| title=Neuropsychological study of frontal lobe function in psychotropic-naive children with obsessive-compulsive disorder| journal=The American Journal of Psychiatry| volume=156| issue=5| pages=777–9| last2=Rosenberg| first2=D. R.| last3=Dick| first3=E. L.| last4=Williams| first4=T.| last5=O'Hearn| first5=K. M.| last6=Birmaher| first6=B.| last7=Ryan| first7=C. M.| s2cid=21359382}}</ref>

In 2010, researchers published the results of an experiment that found that the ant species ''[[Linepithema humile]]'' were successfully able to solve the 3-disk version of the Tower of Hanoi problem through non-linear dynamics and pheromone signals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reid |first1=C.R. |last2=Sumpter |first2=D.J. |last3=Beekman |first3=M. |title=Optimisation in a natural system: Argentine ants solve the Towers of Hanoi |journal=J. Exp. Biol. |volume=214 |issue=Pt 1 |pages=50–8 |date=January 2011 |pmid=21147968 |doi=10.1242/jeb.048173 |bibcode=2011JExpB.214...50R |citeseerx=10.1.1.231.9201 |s2cid=18819977 }}</ref>

In 2014, scientists synthesized multilayered [[palladium]] nanosheets with a Tower of Hanoi-like structure.<ref name="Nano"/>