You have a pair of pliers and a bag of nuts in the shell. You believe you can't shell the nuts because you do not have a nutcracker. Your inability to perceive the pliers as a makeshift nutcracker demonstrates _____ on your part.
A)functional fixedness
B)mental set
C)insight insufficiency
D)heuristic reasoning

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is the inability to see an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. In this case, not recognizing pliers can serve as a makeshift nutcracker is an example of functional fixedness.

You Have a Pair of Pliers and a Bag of Nuts