PSY 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Functional Fixedness, Lev Vygotsky, Lewis Terman
Document Summary
Heuristics: subgoals* formulating intermediate steps towards a solution (i. e. breaking down steps of a term paper or planning out the classes needed to graduate) Problem solving: insight* sudden perception of a solution to a problem- aha! moment. Barriers to effective problem solving (4): irrelevant information, functional fixedness, mental sets, conformation bias. Functional fixedness* thinking about objects only in terms of their typical (or most common) uses. Functional fixedness: mental sets* tendency for people to persist in using problem solving strategies that have worked in the past. Conformation bias* tendency to search for evidence that supports our preconceptions while ignoring evidence to the contrary. Creativity* the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and vaulable. Creativity: convergent thinking* type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer, and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single answer by using previous knowledge and logic.
