46 students were administered the Luchins' water-jar problems, measuring susceptibility to set and inability to overcome set, and the Maier two-string task, in which choice of solution object reflected functional fixedness. 18 subjects showed functional fixedness and 28 did not. 15 of each group were susceptible to set, and 13 of the former but only 5 of the latter were unable to overcome it. These data confirm previous work in demonstrating a strong association between functional fixedness and inability to overcome set and suggest that it may also be mildly related to susceptibility to set.
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References
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AdamsonR. E.TaylorD. W.Functional fixedness as related to elapsed time and to set. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1954, 47, 122–126.
