Educational Psychology / Unit 6 EDP 0510 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Mental Set and Functional Fixedness
Captions available
The idea
A mental set repeats an approach that worked before even when it no longer works; functional fixedness is one kind, seeing an object only in its usual use.
In practice
Not seeing that a book could prop open a door is functional fixedness.
Where people slip
The terms are related, not synonyms: functional fixedness concerns objects, mental set concerns approaches.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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