<P> Mental set was first articulated by Abraham Luchins in the 1940s and demonstrated in his well - known water jug experiments . In these experiments , participants were asked to fill one jug with a specific amount of water using only other jugs ( typically three ) with different maximum capacities as tools . After Luchins gave his participants a set of water jug problems that could all be solved by employing a single technique , he would then give them a problem that could either be solved using that same technique or a novel and simpler method . Luchins discovered that his participants tended to use the same technique that they had become accustomed to despite the possibility of using a simpler alternative . Thus mental set describes one 's inclination to attempt to solve problems in such a way that has proved successful in previous experiences . However , as Luchins ' work revealed , such methods for finding a solution that have worked in the past may not be adequate or optimal for certain new but similar problems . Therefore , it is often necessary for people to move beyond their mental sets in order to find solutions . This was again demonstrated in Norman Maier 's 1931 experiment , which challenged participants to solve a problem by using a household object ( pliers ) in an unconventional manner . Maier observed that participants were often unable to view the object in a way that strayed from its typical use , a phenomenon regarded as a particular form of mental set ( more specifically known as functional fixedness , which is the topic of the following section ) . When people cling rigidly to their mental sets , they are said to be experiencing fixation , a seeming obsession or preoccupation with attempted strategies that are repeatedly unsuccessful . In the late 1990s , researcher Jennifer Wiley worked to reveal that expertise can work to create a mental set in persons considered to be experts in certain fields , and she furthermore gained evidence that the mental set created by expertise could lead to the development of fixation . </P>
<P> Mental set was first articulated by Abraham Luchins in the 1940s and demonstrated in his well - known water jug experiments . In these experiments , participants were asked to fill one jug with a specific amount of water using only other jugs ( typically three ) with different maximum capacities as tools . After Luchins gave his participants a set of water jug problems that could all be solved by employing a single technique , he would then give them a problem that could either be solved using that same technique or a novel and simpler method . Luchins discovered that his participants tended to use the same technique that they had become accustomed to despite the possibility of using a simpler alternative . Thus mental set describes one 's inclination to attempt to solve problems in such a way that has proved successful in previous experiences . However , as Luchins ' work revealed , such methods for finding a solution that have worked in the past may not be adequate or optimal for certain new but similar problems . Therefore , it is often necessary for people to move beyond their mental sets in order to find solutions . This was again demonstrated in Norman Maier 's 1931 experiment , which challenged participants to solve a problem by using a household object ( pliers ) in an unconventional manner . Maier observed that participants were often unable to view the object in a way that strayed from its typical use , a phenomenon regarded as a particular form of mental set ( more specifically known as functional fixedness , which is the topic of the following section ) . When people cling rigidly to their mental sets , they are said to be experiencing fixation , a seeming obsession or preoccupation with attempted strategies that are repeatedly unsuccessful . In the late 1990s , researcher Jennifer Wiley worked to reveal that expertise can work to create a mental set in persons considered to be experts in certain fields , and she furthermore gained evidence that the mental set created by expertise could lead to the development of fixation . </P>
who emphasized the processes of experience and problem solving
who emphasized the processes of experience and problem solving
Abraham Luchins
Abraham Luchins