• DOI:10.2307/1422851
Corpus ID: 10359632

Incubation and the persistence of fixation in problem solving.

@article{Smith1991IncubationAT,
  title={Incubation and the persistence of fixation in problem solving.},
  author={S. M. Smith and S. E. Blankenship},
  journal={The American journal of psychology},
  year={1991},
  volume={104 1},
  pages={
          61-87
        }
}

• S. M. Smith, S. E. Blankenship
• Published 1991
• Psychology, Medicine
• The American journal of psychology

Extra work on unsolved problems may lead to more improvement if the new work is delayed rather than undertaken immediately after initial solution attempts. Such a result constitutes incubation in problem solving. "Unconscious work" on a problem, commonly assumed to be responsible for incubation effects, may not be necessary to observe the phenomenon. We hypothesize that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with… Expand