A mental block is an instance in which someone cannot keep their train of thought or remember something that they should. There are many types of mental blocks and we will list some of them, along with examples, in this assignment.
Perceptual Blocks
A perceptual block causes a disturbance in the way a problem is perceived. Below are types of perceptual blocks and examples of each.
• Stereotyping is when something is perceived in a certain way for so long that it is difficult to view it in another way. For example; if you were stranded in the wilderness and only had your clothes, but had an opportunity to catch fish in a stream, you might be able to pull threads from your clothing to make a fishing line. But you may be so used to only wearing clothes that you may not think of this as a possibility.
• Limiting the problem unnecessarily is when you set unrequired limitations on yourself. Examples of this can be found in many riddles, which trick you into tightening the scope of your thinking so that you miss the obvious. For example, what gets wet when it’s drying?
• Saturation or Information Overload is when you have to have too much information at your disposal tom utilize it efficiently. You might end up spending more time organizing your information than using it to solve your problem. An example of this could be found in computer programming, when an input is bad and you have to look through the entire code to find it. The amount of symbols perceived could be an overload to your perception
Emotional Blocks
An emotional block cause you to be stopped by an emotional barrier. The types of emotional blocks are listed below.
• Fear of Risk Taking is when you allow fear to disrupt your focus. An example of this would be freezing up during a speech or finding yourself unable to jump from the airplane when needed.
Lack of Appetite for Chaos can cause you not become blocked when the solution is not as safe as you are comfortable with. An example would be allowing yourself to lose focus when a team mate is unable to complete their assigned task and you must carry their workload.
• Judging Rather Than Generating Ideas usually happens when an idea is approached with a negative attitude. An example of this could be when you have to complete an assignment when you just got in an argument with someone and can’t focus.
• Lack of Challenge is when the problem seems too mundane to be focused on. An example of this might be missing a due date for a water bill.
• Inability to Incubate is not trying to rush through your problem instead of taking the time to analyze it correctly. An example of this could be someone who has waited until the deadline to write an assignment. They may be so focused on the upcoming deadline that they miss important facts or clues needed for resolution.

Higgins’ Hindrances to Generating Alternatives
These are a few examples of mental blocks that have been collected, along with examples.
• Defining a problem too narrowly, such as trying to get a penny out of a glass bottle and all you have is a string.
• Attacking the symptoms, rather than the real problem; Such as, taking diet pills instead of changing the diet.
• Assuming there is only one right answer, like walking into a wall over and over until you break through instead of walking around because you believed straight through was the only answer.
• Getting hooked on the first solution that comes to mind, such as walking into a wall over and over until you break through instead of walking around because you thought of it first.
• Getting hooked on a solutions that almost works (but really doesn’t,) such as floating on a piece of wood instead of swimming to the life raft when your boat has sunk.
• Being distracted by irrelevant information, such as can be found on many questions in tests which try to distract you from the main objective.
• Getting frustrated by lack of success, such as a guitarist might feel when he has practiced for weeks and made no progress.
• Being too anxious to finish, like worrying about the deadline of a timed test instead of the question at hand.
• Defining the problem ambiguously, such as stating the problem as “I have bad grades” instead of “I don’t study enough.” It does not offer a clear identity of resolution
Goman’s Blocks
Below is a list of Goman’s Blocks and subsequent Goman’s Blockbusters, along with an example of how the blockbuster can be used.
• Negative Attitude or losing focus hampers creativity. Goman suggests an Attitude Adjustment by listing aspects of the problem, such as creating a brainstorming map.
• Fear of Failure and allowing it to cause a loss of focus and drive suggests that Risk Taking will break the block, such as weighing out the risk and identifying the reward. An example would be a fear of water but you are on a sinking boat. Are you more afraid to swim or drown? I’d swim even if I was afraid to.
• Following the Rules hinders innovation, to stop this Goman suggests Breaking the Rules. An example of this could be Amazon’s mission to deliver by drone to drastically improve shipping times.
• Over-reliance on logic hinders imagination. Goman suggest a Creative Internal Climate as the solution. This would be to take time to abandon seriousness and allow your imagination to run free. This process occurs often during writing creatively, such as Science Fiction.
• Belief That You Aren’t Creative can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. To combat this, Goman suggests Creative Beliefs. An example of this would be to ask yourself “what if” questions and to let your mind wander.