But what other uses might the item have?
In many cases, functional fixedness can prevent people from seeing the full range of uses for an object.
It can also impair our ability to think of novelsolutions to problems.
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A friend comes over and suggests using a metal wrench instead to pound the nail into the wall.
Why didn’t you think of using the metal wrench?
Using only these items, take a stab at figure out how to mount the candles to a wall.
How would you accomplish this?
Many people might immediately start trying to use the thumbtacks to affix the candles to the wall.
Due to functional fixedness, you might think of only one way to directly use the thumbtacks.
There is another solution, however.
Once the candles are attached to the box, use the thumbtacks to stick the box to the wall.
Functional fixedness is just one pop in of mental obstacle that can makeproblem-solvingmore difficult.
Functional fixedness isn’t always a bad thing.
Instead, you are able to quickly grab a screwdriver, the most obvious item for loosening a screw.
American Psychological Association.APA Dictionary of Psychology: functional fixedness.
