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The impact of learning preferences, perceptual differences, and cognitive control for fixation to pictorial examples in design problem solving

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Evangelia G. Chrysikou¹ (lilachrysikou@gmail.com), Leah Downie¹, Alexandra E. Kelly¹, Hannah Maisano¹, Dong Ho Kim², John Gero¹; ¹Drexel University, ²Northwestern University

Using pictures as examples during problem solving can lead to fixation, wherein solvers tend to replicate the solutions included in the examples even when they involve errors or are clearly suboptimal. Despite the significance of this finding for many educational and professional contexts where creative solutions are critical, very little research has examined the neurocognitive bases of this phenomenon. In this study, we hypothesized that individual differences in learning tendencies, perceptual processing, and cognitive control may contribute to the likelihood of a participant experiencing fixation during design problem solving. To examine this prediction, in two behavioral sessions lasting approximately 2 hours each, we administered healthy young adults learning, perceptual processing, and cognitive control tasks, and design problem solving tasks that either included a pictorial example or did not include an example. We evaluated participant solutions for evidence of fixation and creative problem solving, per established procedures. Participants’ performance on the learning, perceptual, and cognitive control measures was scored per established procedures for each scale or measure. Analyses of variance offered preliminary support for our predictions, showing that individual differences in learning, perceptual processing, and executive function abilities partially accounting for the observed fixation effects. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of creative problem solving and functional fixedness. Given the prevalence of pictorial examples in many educational and professional settings across STEM disciplines and beyond, we note how our findings can offer recommendations for incorporating learning differences in instructional approaches.

Topic Area: THINKING: Problem solving