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===Functional Fixedness===
[[Functional_fixedness|Functional fixedness]] is a specific form of mental set and fixation, which was alluded to earlier in the Maier experiment, and furthermore it is another way in which cognitive bias can be seen throughout daily life. AsTim German and Clark Barrett describe this articlebarrier statesas the fixed design of an object hindershindering the individualsindividual's ability to see theit serving other functionfunctions. ofIn thismore technical terms, “Subjectsthese researchers explained that “[s]ubjects become “fixed” on the design function of the objects, and problem solving suffers relative to control conditions in which the object’s function is not demonstrated.”<ref>German, Tim, P., and Barrett, Clark., H. Functional fixedness in a technologically sparse culture. University of California, Santa Barbara. American psychological society. 16 (1), 2005.</ref> Functional fixedness is defined as only having that primary function of the object itself hinder the ability of it serving another purpose other then its original function. AnIn articleresearch that highlighted the primary reasons that young children wereare immune to functional fixedness, statedit morewas onstated the definition to how some subjects can have functional fixedness applied.that “functional fixedness, where subjects are hindered in reaching the solution to a problem by their knowledge of an object’s conventional function.” <ref>German, Tim, P., Defeyter, Margaret A. Immunity to functional fixedness in young children. University of Essex, Colchester, England. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 7 (4), 2000.</ref> AnFurthermore, exampleit ofis important to note that functional fixedness wouldcan be ifeasily expressed in commonplace situations. For instance, imagine the following situation: a personman sawsees a bug on the floor for instance that theyhe wantedwants to kill, andbut the only thing in theirhis hand at the moment wasis a can of air freshener. TheIf personthe wouldman startstarts looking around for something in the house to kill the bug with instead of realizing that the can of air freshener could in fact be used not only as having its main function as to freshen the air, buthe itis toosaid couldto be usedexperiencing tofunctional smash the bugfixedness. The person’s knowledge of the can being served as purely an air freshener hindered their ability to realize that it too could have been used to serve another purpose, in this instance to kill the bug. Functional fixedness can happen on multiple occasions and can cause us to have certain cognitive biases. Another example in which functional fixedness can alter in different situations was stated within this particular article. “This functional fixedness may be found in learning concepts as well as in solving chemistry problems.” <ref>Yonge, George, D., Structure of experience and functional fixedness. University of California, Davis. Journal of Educational psychology. 57 (2), 1986.</ref>If we only see an object as serving its primary focus than we fail to initially accept the fact that the object can be used as more than the reason it was intended to serve which can cause many issues in regards to problem solving.
Functional fixedness limits the ability for people to solve problems accurately by causing one to have a very narrow way of thinking. Functional fixedness can be seen in other types of learning behaviors not solely seeing an object with only one function. This issue can be found in many educational instances, like this article states. “This functional fixedness may be found in learning concepts as well as in solving chemistry problems.” <ref>Furio, C., Calatayud, M. L., Baracenas, S, L., and Padilla, O, M., Functional fixedness and functional reduction as common sense reasonings in chemical equilibrium and in geometry and polarity of molecules. Valencia, Spain. Science Education. 84. (5), 2000.</ref> There was more emphasis on this function being seen in this type of subject and others. Common sense seems to be a plausible answer to functional fixedness. One could make this argument because it seems as if it makes perfect sense to use an object as something other then what it was intended for. Using common sense to solve this issue could be the most accurate answer within this context. With the previous example, it seems as if it would make perfect sense to use the can of air freshener to kill the bug rather then search for something else to serve that function but this tends to not be the case.
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