Functional Fixedness
A cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used.
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Origin
German Gestalt psychologist Karl Duncker identified the phenomenon around 1935 while studying under Wolfgang Köhler in Berlin. His famous "candle problem" — asking subjects to attach a candle to a wall using only thumbtacks and matches — was published posthumously in 1945 as On Problem-Solving, five years after his death at age 37.
Updated February 22, 2026