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Four Doorways Problem as an Example of Mental Set
This example illustrates a mental set through a scenario where a person is in a room with four doorways. Because one specific doorway has always been open in the past, the person repeatedly tries to exit through it, even though it is now locked and three other doorways are open. This demonstrates how past experience can create a mental block, causing someone to persist with a familiar but currently ineffective solution.
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Ch.7 Thinking and Intelligence - Psychology @ OpenStax
Psychology @ OpenStax
Introduction to Psychology @ OpenStax Course
OpenStax
OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook
Psychology
Social Science
Empirical Science
Science
Related
Water jug problem (and solution)
Set Shifting
Functional Fixedness
Four Doorways Problem as an Example of Mental Set
A software developer is famous for her skill in optimizing code using a specific algorithm that worked wonders on older, single-core processors. The company has now switched to using powerful multi-core processors. The developer continues to apply her old, favored algorithm to new projects, but the software's performance is consistently sluggish. Despite evidence that her method is no longer effective for the new hardware, she insists on refining her original algorithm rather than exploring new parallel processing techniques. Which cognitive obstacle best describes the developer's situation?
The Chef's Recipe Problem