Stumped by a problem? This technique unsticks you
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 21:30
in Mathematics & Economics
Stuck solving a problem? Seek the obscure, says a psychologist. "There's a classic obstacle to innovation called 'functional fixedness,' which is the tendency to fixate on the common use of an object or its parts. It hinders people from solving problems." Researchers have developed a systematic way of overcoming that obstacle: the "generic parts technique."