Margo can't close the window in her office, and a strong wind has come up. She complains to John that her papers are blowing and she can't find a paperweight. John takes the empty heavy coffee mug from her bookshelf and puts it on top of her papers to anchor them. Margo has been suffering from ________.
A) inadequate means-end analysis
B) functional fixedness
C) noncompensatory modeling
D) working backward

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Margo's inability to consider using the coffee mug as a paperweight suggests she was experiencing functional fixedness, which is the tendency to think of objects only in terms of their typical use/function and therefore overlook alternative uses.

Margo Can't Close the Window in Her Office, and a Strong