ABSTRACT
The notion of fixation refers to an unhelpful reliance on the past during problem solving, when a new perspective is needed (e.g., Duncker, 1935/1945; Scheerer, 1963). Although the concept was introduced in psychology, fixation may occur in many other domains. Recent studies in the field of engineering design, for example, have suggested that presentation of pictorial examples with a to-be-solved problem may lead to fixation in design, even in cases where the example is specifically described as problematic (Jansson & Smith, 1991; Purcell & Gero, 1996; Purcell, Williams, Gero, & Colbron, 1993). The inherently cognitive nature of the design process makes these findings of potential significance to cognitive psychology.
