Abstract: Mental set represents a form of rigidity in which an individual behaves or believes in a certain manner. In the field of psychology, this effect has typically been examined in the process of problem solving and specifically refers to the brain’s tendency to stick with the most familiar solution and to stubbornly ignore alternatives, or people cannot quickly switch rules and tasks according to the situation or demands. One of the most famous examples is the so-called water jar problem, which was originally developed by Luchins. Eye tracking technology revealed that the cognitive mechanism underlying this phenomenon was attentional bias. Previous knowledge likely directs attention toward relevant information and away from irrelevant information. Thus, the familiar solution that is consistent with the already activated knowledge is more likely to be chosen. According to which kinds of knowledge affected the problem-solving activities, we can distinguish the mental set derived from declarative knowledge and the mental set derived from procedural knowledge. For the mental set that is driven by prior knowledge, particularly expertise in a domain, both prior knowledge and a similar problem were generally considered the necessary factors to the perseveration of the mental set. Mental set always occurs when people are confronted with a problem situation that is similar to previously experienced problems. If a problem situation is different from previous experiences, then no cues will elicit retrieval of previously acquired knowledge and no attentional bias will occur. However, the mental set is also likely strengthened by repeated practice in a short time and can be interpreted as a temporary by-product of procedural learning. In particular, when a solution is used to solve the first problem successfully, it gains activation and, as such, is more likely to be used to solve the second problem in the set, in turn gaining additional activation, and so on. After repeated practice, the solution that is satisfactory for all of the practice problems gradually realizes mechanization and is likely to be automatically activated in similar consecutive problems. Consequently, problem solvers tend to solve similar problems in a fixed way and become faster and faster in behavior performance. Meanwhile, mechanization of a particular solution decreased cognitive flexibility, which likely increased the switching costs from the practiced problems to a totally different problem. Therefore, perseveration of the mental set was independent of the similarity between the problems. Regardless of whether the next problem is similar to the previously practiced problems, problem solving will be hindered when people try to explore alternative solutions rather than using the repeatedly reinforced solution.

Key words: mental set, previous knowledge, attentional bias, neural adaptation, cognitive inflexibility

摘要： 问题解决活动中的心理定势，是指人们固执地沿用熟悉方案、忽略其他方案的反应倾向。它可能源于人们已经掌握的陈述性知识，也可能源于程序性知识，两类不同来源的心理定势的发生条件和影响效果都不尽相同。然而，过往的研究都没有做出严格区分。本文通过梳理相关研究，描述心理定势现象，解释心理定势是怎么发生的，分析心理定势是在什么条件下发生的、会对心理与行为活动造成什么样的影响，从而评述两种来源的心理定势的认知神经机制，指出尚未解决的科学问题。

关键词: 心理定势, 知识经验, 注意偏差, 神经适应, 认知失灵