General Problem Solver

The General Problem Solver was an early computer program in Cognitive Psychology that tried to simulate human problem-solving using means-ends analysis. It broke a goal into smaller steps and searched for ways to reduce the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

What is the General Problem Solver?

The General Problem Solver (GPS) is an early computer program in Cognitive Psychology that tried to model how people solve problems by using search and planning instead of just reacting. It did not memorize answers. Instead, it worked through a goal by comparing the current state to the desired state and choosing steps that would move it closer.

GPS is best known for using means-ends analysis. That means it looked at the difference between the problem you have now and the goal you want, then picked an action that would shrink that difference. If the action created a new subproblem, GPS would treat that as the next target and keep going. That step-by-step structure made problem solving look like a process that could be described with rules.

In the history of psychology, GPS mattered because it helped shift attention away from behaviorism’s narrow focus on visible responses. Behaviorism could explain habits and conditioning well, but it struggled with higher-order thinking like reasoning, planning, and insight. GPS gave psychologists and computer scientists a way to say, “Maybe we can model thinking as information processing.”

That was a big move for the cognitive revolution. Instead of treating the mind as a black box, researchers started asking what kinds of internal operations might happen during reasoning. GPS was not a perfect model of human thought, but it showed that problem solving could be studied as a structured mental activity rather than a mystery.

The limits of GPS are just as useful as its strengths. It worked better on well-defined problems with clear goals and rules. It struggled with ill-structured problems, where the goal is fuzzy, the steps are not obvious, or the “right” path depends on context. Real people often rely on insight, memory, heuristics, and background knowledge in ways a rigid search program does not capture.

Why the General Problem Solver matters in Cognitive Psychology

General Problem Solver matters because it marks one of the clearest breaks between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. When you see GPS in this course, you are seeing an early example of the idea that thinking can be modeled, not just observed from the outside.

It also gives you a concrete way to understand problem solving as information processing. The program’s search process, goal comparison, and subgoal creation are the same kinds of moves psychologists talk about when they describe how people tackle puzzles, proofs, or planning tasks.

GPS is also a good reminder that human thinking is flexible. A program can follow a neat algorithm, but people often switch strategies, use shortcuts, or reinterpret the problem itself. That contrast shows why cognitive psychology studies both structured reasoning and the limits of formal models.

If you are reading a passage or scenario in class, GPS helps you identify when a thinker is using stepwise reasoning, when a problem is well structured, and when a model may fail because the task is too ambiguous.

How the General Problem Solver connects across the course

Means-Ends Analysis

This is the strategy GPS used most directly. You compare the current situation with the goal, then choose a step that narrows the gap. In problem-solving questions, this is the clearest clue that the thinker is working backward or sideways from the goal instead of jumping straight to an answer.

Heuristic

A heuristic is a shortcut, while GPS is a more structured search process. The two are connected because both deal with problem solving, but heuristics are faster and less exact. Cognitive psychology often contrasts them to show the difference between formal algorithms and everyday thinking.

Cognitive Modeling

GPS is one of the early examples of cognitive modeling because it tried to represent mental processes with a computer program. That matters in this course because cognitive modeling turns invisible thinking into something you can describe, test, and compare with human behavior.

ACT-R

ACT-R is a much later cognitive architecture that also models thinking, but in a more detailed and flexible way. Comparing it to GPS helps show how the field moved from simple rule-based programs toward richer models of memory, attention, and task performance.

Is the General Problem Solver on the Cognitive Psychology exam?

A quiz or short-answer question may describe a person breaking a puzzle into smaller steps, then ask you to identify the problem-solving strategy. You would connect that pattern to GPS and means-ends analysis, especially if the task involves comparing the current state to a goal state. In a passage analysis, look for language about subgoals, searching for moves, or reducing differences between where someone is and where they want to be.

If a question asks why GPS matters historically, tie it to the cognitive revolution and the shift away from behaviorism. If the prompt asks for a limitation, mention that GPS works better on structured problems than on messy real-world ones. In class discussion or a written response, you may also be asked to explain why a computer model can resemble human reasoning without copying it perfectly.

Key things to remember about the General Problem Solver

• The General Problem Solver is an early cognitive psychology program that modeled problem solving as a rule-based search process.

• Its main strategy was means-ends analysis, which compares the current state with the goal and looks for steps that reduce the gap.

• GPS helped push psychology away from strict behaviorism by showing that internal mental processes could be modeled scientifically.

• It worked best on well-defined problems and did not handle ambiguous, ill-structured problems as well as people do.

• In class, GPS is usually used to explain the history of the cognitive revolution and the rise of information-processing models.

Frequently asked questions about the General Problem Solver

What is General Problem Solver in Cognitive Psychology?

General Problem Solver, or GPS, is an early computer program that modeled how humans solve problems by using a search process and means-ends analysis. It tried to reach a goal by breaking the task into smaller steps instead of guessing or reacting automatically.

How does General Problem Solver use means-ends analysis?

It compares the current situation to the desired goal, then chooses an action that reduces the distance between them. If that action creates a new obstacle, GPS treats that obstacle as a smaller problem and keeps going.

Why is GPS important in the cognitive revolution?

GPS showed that psychology could study thinking as an internal process, not just visible behavior. That made it a useful symbol of the move away from behaviorism and toward cognitive psychology’s focus on memory, reasoning, and problem solving.

What is a limitation of General Problem Solver?

GPS works best when the problem has clear rules and a clear goal. It struggles with real-life problems that are vague, messy, or open-ended, where people often rely on heuristics, intuition, and prior knowledge.