When you have used a particular tool, item, or object for one sole purpose again and again, your brain can sometimes associate it with only that use. This concept is called functional fixedness.

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 ...

You probably know the line, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet!" from Juliet's famous balcony soliloquy. Not only are these words a rich way to ...