The Effects of Incubation, Fixation Stimuli, and Working Memory Capacity on Design Fixation

Abstract This paper examines design fixation in engineering classrooms, particularly focusing on the impact of incubation, fixation stimuli, and individual working memory capacity.146 first year engineering design students completed a presented design challenge under different experimental conditions. Their sketched solutions were evaluated using established fixation metrics. The results suggest no correlation between students’ working memory capacity and the percentage of example features integrated into their solutions. Results indicate that when students are presented with only a negative example, fixation levels are influenced by the length of the incubation period. Based on these results, instructors can be advised to present negative examples to students 96 hours before ideation to mitigate the inclusion of excessive negative example features. Furthermore, results show a significant increase in fixation on features present in positive examples, suggesting that instructors should be aware of presenting both positive and negative examples to their students if they want to avoid design fixation.