This question is missing the options. I've found the complete question online. It is as follows:
Heriberto hears that there is bad traffic on his route to work, but he takes that same route anyway hoping that he won't get stuck. He gets frustrated when he is in standstill traffic shortly after leaving his home and arrives at work 35 minutes late. Heriberto's use of the same route demonstrates __________.
A) functional fixedness
B) the representativeness heuristic
C) a mental set
D) salience of surface characteristics
Answer:
The best answer seems to be letter C) a mental set.
Explanation:
We can reach the conclusion that letter C is the best option through elimination.
Functional fixedness means a person is unable to see another use for an object other than its traditional use. That is not the case described in the question.
The representativeness heuristic refers to a mental shortcut we take while making judgments. We assess the likelihood of something happening based on the prototype existent in our minds. Not the case here.
<u>Mental set refers to the inability to generate new alternatives for the same problem or situation. The person is stuck in their old ways, so to speak. That is precisely the problem with Heriberto. Even though he has received intelligence about the bad traffic, he is unable of coming up with alternative routes, sticking to the only one he knows.</u>
Salience of surfaces refers to finding surface similarities between problems and solving them equally for that reason. Not the case described.
