Final answer:
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias where an object is only seen as useful for its intended purpose, demonstrated by Duncker's candle experiment and NASA's ingenuity during the Apollo 13 mission.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term you're referring to is functional fixedness, a concept in psychology. It describes a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used. A classic example of overcoming functional fixedness comes from an experiment by Duncker in 1945, where participants were challenged to fix a candle to a wall using only a candle, a book of matches, and a box of thumbtacks. Another real-world example of overcoming functional fixedness occurred during the Apollo 13 mission when NASA engineers devised a makeshift air filter using spare materials to remove carbon dioxide from the spacecraft, subsequently saving the astronauts' lives.