functional fixedness

the tendency to perceive an object only in terms of its most common use. For example, people generally perceive cardboard boxes as containers, thus hindering them from potentially flipping the boxes over for use as platforms upon which to place objects (e.g., books). See alternate-uses test.

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Psychology term of the day

February 17th 2025

panacea

n. a solution or remedy for everything that is wrong with a given problem or that universally applies to a set of related problems.