Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/2276
Title: Why good thoughts block better ones: The mechanism of the pernicious Einstellung (set) effect.
Authors: Bilalić, M
McLeod, P
Gobet, F
Keywords: Einstellung effect;set effect;Fixation;Problem solving;Expertise;Eye movements;Chess;Thinking;Confirmation bias;Maynard Keynes;Luchins;schema;template theory;bias in science
Issue Date: 2008
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Cognition (in press)
Abstract: The Einstellung (set) effect occurs when the first idea that comes to mind, triggered by familiar features of a problem, prevents a better solution being found. It has been shown to affect both people facing novel problems and experts within their field of expertise. We show that it works by influencing mechanisms that determine what information is attended to. Having found one solution, expert chess players reported that they were looking for a better one. But their eye movements showed that they continued to look at features of the problem related to the solution they had already thought of. The mechanism which allows the first schema activated by familiar aspects of a problem to control the subsequent direction of attention may contribute to a wide range of biases both in everyday and expert thought - from confirmation bias in hypothesis testing to the tendency of scientists to ignore results that do not fit their favoured theories.
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/2276
Appears in Collections:Psychology
Dept of Life Sciences Research Papers

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