What psychological phenomenon occurs when a person struggles to solve problems due to a pre-existing approach?

The concept being described in the question is a mental set, which refers to a tendency to approach problems in a particular way, often based on past experiences or previously successful strategies. When someone is influenced by a mental set, they may struggle to see alternative solutions that could be more effective. This inflexibility can hinder problem-solving because the individual becomes fixated on the methods that have worked before.

For example, if someone has always solved a particular type of problem using a specific strategy, they may overlook or dismiss other potentially useful strategies due to their reliance on that familiar approach. The mental set not only influences how individuals generate solutions but can also create barriers to innovative thinking, as they may fail to reconsider or adapt their approach based on the unique features of a new problem.

In contrast, functional fixedness specifically refers to a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, while arrangement and transformation problems relate to specific types of tasks found in problem-solving scenarios.