Which of the following provides the best example of functional fixedness? a) using a pair of pliers as a paperweight. b) using a tire as a swing seat and as a football practice target. c) using a juice glass as a container for orange juice. d) using a wine bottle as a vase.

The correct answer is:

using a pair of pliers as a paperweight. (a.)

Explanation:

Functional fixedness as the name implies, refer to theories that promote the use of an object in a traditional sense, rejecting innovative and circumstantial use of such objects. For example, using a knife to drive screws defiles the theory of functional fixedness. A knife is traditionally designed and used for cutting, and functional fixedness adopts its use for cutting and piercing alone. Functional fixedness originated in Gestalt psychology, a psychology movement which promotes holistic processing.

Functional fixedness often occurs naturally as one grows and is influenced by their immediate culture. An experiment to support this fact was carried out on 5 and 7 year olds, and it was discovered that the 5 year olds had more likelihood to use any opject at their disposal to achieve an immediate task at hand, while the 7 year olds, having been culturized long enough had a more object specific approach.