MONOGRAPH No. l
Manipulative materials for teaching and learning mathematics
Publication of the Mathematics Council of The Alberta Teachers’ Association
85 – 90
BILL HIGGINSON
Psychologists doing research in the area of human problem-solving have discovered a phenomenon called “functional fixedness”, which refers to the tendency humans have to identify objects with some specific role or function. In many cases, this identification is so strong that it impedes productive problem solving. This occurs when problem-solvers cannot see some given object as being a tool which might help them because they have fixated on the standard function which the object serves and this use differs from the one required to solve the problem.