Which of the following examples best illustrates functional fixedness? A. Adam needs to keep the door open, so he uses his psychology book as a door stop. B. Trey wants to nail a poster up in his room, so he uses his shoe as a hammer. C. Julie lost her earring back, so she throws the earring away instead of using a pencil eraser. D. Morgan uses a wrench as a paper weight while she writes her essay for psychology outdoors.

Question

Advanced Placement (AP)

Matthew Holden

20 July, 10:08

Which of the following examples best illustrates functional fixedness? A. Adam needs to keep the door open, so he uses his psychology book as a door stop. B. Trey wants to nail a poster up in his room, so he uses his shoe as a hammer. C. Julie lost her earring back, so she throws the earring away instead of using a pencil eraser. D. Morgan uses a wrench as a paper weight while she writes her essay for psychology outdoors.

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Katrina · Answer 1

C. Fixedness is an inability to use an object for anything other than its original purpose. Rather than get creative in fixing her earring, Julie throws it away. Using a pencil eraser as an earring back would represent ingenuity and flexibility - the opposite of functional fixedness.