Martha Has Lost Her Keys

Multiple Choice

Martha has lost her keys.She looks in her purse,only to find that they are not there.She looks in various places - rooms of her house,cushions of the sofa,even in the refrigerator - but she keeps coming back to her purse to make sure that the keys are not there.Martha's tendency to solve the problem using a successful past solution is an example of __________.

A) an algorithm
B) functional fixedness
C) the mental set
D) a heuristic