Alex and Nicole just got married. They move into their new apartment and realise they need a coffee table. Alex takes four stacks of old textbooks and forms the legs of the table. He then takes an old piece of cardboard and lays it across the four "legs". Which cognitive tendency has Alex clearly mastered?
A)Mental set
B)Functional fixedness
C)Creative inhibition
D)Availability heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Alex has shown functional fixedness, which is the cognitive tendency to only see an object in terms of its most common use or function. He repurposes old textbooks as table legs instead of buying actual table legs, displaying a creative solution to a problem by breaking free from the typical use of an object.

Alex and Nicole Just Got Married