PSY30400 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Functional Fixedness, Pliers
Chapter 12: Problem Solving
• Functional Fixedness:
o focusing on familiar functions or uses of an object
o Example of this phenomenon provided by candle problem
▪ task is to mount a candle on a corkboard so that it will burn without dripping
wax on the floor
▪ Solution to problem occurs when people realize that the matchbox can be
used as support rather than as a container
▪ Subjects who were presented with the boxes as containers took longer to
solve the problem because they did not consider that the box could be used
as something other than a container
• example of functional fixedness
o Another example of this phenomenon =
▪ two-string problem
• subject had to tie two strings together that
were hanging from the ceiling
▪ Functional fixedness shown because people usually
think of pliers as a tool, not as a weight at the end of
pendulum
▪ When subjects were given a hint of swinging strings,
they could solve the problem
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