📖 Bài đọc
The concept of 'functional fixedness' refers to a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. When individuals encounter a problem, they often fail to see alternative uses for familiar objects, which hinders creative problem-solving. Overcoming functional fixedness requires thinking beyond an object's conventional function and considering novel applications that might solve a challenge.
🎧 Bài giảng
Professor: Let me illustrate this with a classic experiment. Participants were given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches, and were asked to attach the candle to a wall so that it could burn without dripping wax on the floor. Many struggled. They tried nailing the candle directly to the wall or melting wax to stick it, but these failed. The solution was to empty the thumbtack box, tack it to the wall as a platform, and place the candle inside it. Why did they fail initially? Because they saw the box only as a container for tacks, not as a potential shelf. That's functional fixedness—they were stuck on the box's usual role and couldn't see its alternative use.