Why good thoughts block better ones.

The article discusses the "Einstellung" effect in psychology, in which the brain ignores alternative solutions to a problem in favor of the familiar, and new research as of March 2014 by the authors and others into how it works. Topics include the discovery of the effect by psychologist Abraham Luchins, study of the effect using eye-tracking experiments with chess players, and broader forms of cognitive bias stemming from the effect.