Bella leaves her office building only to find it is raining. She returns to her office and gets a trash bag out of the supply cabinet. Using a pair of scissors, she cuts the bag so that she can put her head and arms through the bag without getting wet. In using the trash bag as a makeshift rain jacket, Bella has overcome __________.
A) functional fixedness
B) confirmation bias
C) creativity bias
D) confirmation fixedness

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Bella has overcome functional fixedness, which is the tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical function. In this scenario, Bella was able to think creatively and repurpose the trash bag as a rain jacket, overcoming the functional fixedness of seeing it only as a receptacle for trash. The other answer choices, confirmation bias and creativity bias, are not relevant to this scenario. Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek out information that confirms one's beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them, while creativity bias refers to the tendency to believe that creativity is a fixed trait rather than a skill that can be developed. Confirmation fixedness is not a valid term.

Bella Leaves Her Office Building Only to Find It Is