Effects of meaning training on overcoming functional fixedness |
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Authors: | Rachel Arnon and Shulamith Kreitler |
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Institution: | (1) the Department of Behavioral Sciences of the Israel Defense Forces, Israel;(2) Present address: the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel |
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Abstract: | Functional fixedness (FF) consists in focusing on some function of an object while overlooking another necessary for problem
solving. Assuming that FF occurs when too few meanings are assigned to the major problem aspects, it was hypothesized that
widening the scope of meaning would reduce FF, particularly in subjects providing more responses. The task was completing
two electrical circuits. Meaning training consisted in requesting the subjects to provide responses to questions reflecting
11 meaning variables concerning three referents of the task. The subjects were 64 high school girls about 15 years old, only
half of whom got meaning training. The results showed that meaning training reduced FF: the experimental subjects solved the
target task faster, especially if they assigned more direct or indirect function responses to the target referents. Discussion
centered on the effects of specific and nonspecific meaning training on different phases of problem solving.
This study is based partly on the data presented by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s
degree at the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University. |
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Keywords: | |
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