Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

M O D U L E 2 4 
Problem Solving 
FIGURE 2 
Steps in problem solving.
Production
Generating solutions
Judgment
Evaluating solutions
Preparation
Understanding and
diagnosing problems
1 2 
Finish 
3 
1 2 
Start 
3
a 
b 
c 
a 
b 
c 
FIGURE 1 
The goal of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle is to move all three disks from the fi rst post 
to the third and still preserve the original order of the disks, using the fewest number of 
moves possible while following the rules that only one disk at a time can be moved and no 
disk can cover a smaller one during a move. Try it yourself before you look at the solution, 
which is listed according to the sequence of moves. 
(Solution: M
ove C t
o 3, B to 2, C t
o 2, A to 3, C t
o 1, B to 3, and C t
o 3.)
Study Alert
Use the three steps of prob-
lem solving to organize your 
studying: Preparation, 
Production, and Judgment 
(PPJ).
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252 Chapter 
8 
Cognition and Language
Preparation: Understanding 
and Diagnosing Problems
When approaching a problem like the Tower of Hanoi, most people begin by trying 
to understand the problem thoroughly. If the problem is a novel one, they probably 
will pay particular attention to any restrictions placed on coming up with a solution—
such as the rule for moving only one disk at a time in the Tower of Hanoi problem. 
If, by contrast, the problem is a familiar one, they are apt to spend considerably less 
time in this preparation stage. 
Problems vary from well defi ned to ill defi ned. In a well-defi ned problem —such as 
a mathematical equation or the solution to a jigsaw puzzle—both the nature of the 
problem itself and the information needed to solve it are available and clear. Thus, 
we can make straightforward judgments about whether a potential solution is appro-
priate. With an ill-defi ned problem, such as how to increase morale on an assembly 
line or to bring peace to the Middle East, not only may the specifi c nature of the 
problem be unclear, the information required to solve the problem may be even less 
obvious (Evans, 2004; Vartanian, 2009).