Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, making it harder to recognize that the object could serve a different function needed to solve a problem. The German psychologist Karl Duncker first described and named the phenomenon in the 1930s, most notably through his candle problem, in which participants struggled to realize that a box holding tacks could itself be used as a platform to mount a candle on a wall. The effect has since been studied extensively in problem-solving and creativity research, and it is commonly cited as a barrier to insight, since overcoming it typically requires mentally decomposing an object's conventional use before recognizing an alternative one.
Facts
Core ClaimFunctional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Functional Fixedness
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Functional Fixedness
WikipediaLead paragraph
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used.
Examples in research, Candle box subsection
In a classic experiment demonstrating functional fixedness, Duncker (1945) gave participants a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a box of matches, and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip onto the table below.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, making it harder to recognize that the object could serve a different function needed to solve a problem.
In Branch: Cognitive Psychology, Categories
Wikipedia article 'Functional fixedness' is filed under Category:Cognitive biases.
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