Semantic Accessibility Is Associated with Reduced Experience-Induced Heuristic Fixation in Creative Problem Solving

Creative problem solving often fails because people rely on heuristic responses reinforced by prior experience. According to the default–interventionist account, analytic intervention can override these heuristic defaults only when the semantic system provides access to competing representations. We tested this prediction using a modified Chinese Remote Associates Task in which two factors were independently manipulated: semantic accessibility (high vs. low) and situational induction (strong vs. weak). A significant interaction emerged: strong induction impaired performance only under low semantic accessibility, whereas high semantic accessibility was associated with attenuated induction costs. This pattern is consistent with semantic accessibility serving as a cognitive buffer that may support analytic override of induced heuristic defaults. A separate comparison between induction and non-induction trials confirmed that induction reliably produced a mental set. These findings resolve conflicting claims about the role of semantic knowledge in creativity by showing that knowledge both constrains and enables insight depending on its interaction with experience-driven heuristics.