What’s on the Problem Solving poster
A 7-row table: Concept · Means.
Key concepts in the psychology of problem solving.
- Problem space — All states between start and goal
- Algorithm — Guaranteed but exhaustive
- Heuristic — Fast, not guaranteed
- Means-end analysis — Reduce the difference to the goal
- Functional fixedness — Seeing only an object's usual use
- Mental set — Reusing a strategy that no longer fits
- Insight — Sudden restructuring of the representation
The candle problem demonstrates functional fixedness: people fail to see the tack box as a shelf because it is presented as a container.
Questions about the Problem Solving poster
- What’s on the Problem Solving poster?
- A 7-row table: Concept · Means. Key concepts in the psychology of problem solving. Problem space — All states between start and goal; Algorithm — Guaranteed but exhaustive; Heuristic — Fast, not guaranteed; Means-end analysis — Reduce the difference to the goal; Functional fixedness — Seeing only an object's usual use; Mental set — Reusing a strategy that no longer fits; Insight — Sudden restructuring of the representation. The candle problem demonstrates functional fixedness: people fail to see the tack box as a shelf because it is presented as a container.
- Who is the Problem Solving poster for?
- Problem Solving belongs to the Psychology section rather than to a school year, because life science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning cognitive can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Problem Solving poster?
- Most failures are representation failures. The problem was framed wrongly at the start. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Problem Solving belongs on the wall where that life science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Problem Solving?
- Attention, Cognitive Load and Decision Making sit alongside Problem Solving in the Psychology section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.AttentionCognitive LoadDecision Making
- Is the Problem Solving poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Problem Solving downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Psychology section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Problem Solving poster print at?
- Problem Solving is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Problem Solving loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Problem Solving on the same wall.
Browse every Psychology poster, or start from the full catalogue.