Functional tightness

Functional fixation ( functional fixation ) is a psychological phenomenon discovered and described by Karl Dunker .

The essence of the functional fixation phenomenon is that the use of an object in one quality prevents its subsequent use in a different quality in the same current situation. Preliminary knowledge that creates fixity makes it difficult to solve, causing a focus on certain aspects of the problem, and thus hinders the successful solution of the problem.

Here is one of the tasks of Dunker, demonstrating the effect in question. The subjects found on the table a sheet of white cardboard and four black squares; among the many foreign objects on the table were paper clips. The black squares had to be attached to the cardboard, and then somehow hung the cardboard to a loop hanging from the ceiling. Some of the subjects were to stick black squares to cardboard, the other - to attach with paper clips. The experiment showed that it was easier for the subjects of the first group to guess that after that you need to straighten one of the staples remaining on the table and use it to attach cardboard to the loop.

Other experiments of Dunker showed that if an object is used in different situations, even if following one after another, the functional fixation is almost or completely removed.

It should be noted that in Dunker's tasks, the first function in which the object was used in the situation was at the same time the main, usual for this object (for example, for staples - fastening of sheets, for pliers - pulling out nails, etc.). Therefore, the phenomenon of functional fixation is also interpreted in the sense that the traditional use of an object impedes its use in a different quality.

Causes of occurrence

There are several ways of occurrence of fixedness, one of them is the series mechanism ( mental set ^[1] ). Moreover, as a series can be considered as short series - samples preceding the control, and long series - a sequence of samples that lasts for a long time ^[2] . Mental set increases the likelihood of choosing a particular solution strategy, due to the fact that this strategy was a success earlier ( short series according to Helson ). Preliminary knowledge relates to the initial probability of the selection procedure and is thus independent of the set effect ( long series according to Helson ).

It should also be noted that short-term fixation can arise not only as a result of a series of preliminary decisions ( mental set ), but also as a result of a single preceding event ( prime ). Especially characteristic here will be the effect of semantic priming ^[3] .

As a result of the experiment ^[4] , H. G. Birch and H. S. Rabinovich came to the conclusion that prior knowledge, influenced by the context of the task, can become an attitude toward a certain activity.

I. Yu. Vladimirov, O. V. Pavlishchak suggest ^[5] that knowledge that causes functional fixation as a result of a long series is the structure of experience, long-term memory . In their opinion, this is also confirmed by the work of J. Wiley ^[6] . Similarly to the previous statement, they suggested that the locus of storing the prohibitions and restrictions that arise as a result of a short series is probably modally specific storage of working memory . As an example, they cite one of their past works. Also, in their opinion, both long-term preliminary knowledge and a short-term mental set lead to fixity and, as a result, complicate the use of standard decision schemes and can only be solved in the form of a breakthrough, overcoming fixation, which is experienced as an insight .