Debrief

Aliases

Newell & Simon

Citation Status
Verified
Cited in Generated Atlas
Design Consequence

Problem spaces and search; structure the space to make solving tractable.

Full Citation

Newell, A. & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human Problem Solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Generated Atlas Citations
Source Class
Canonical
Themes
Goal-Directed & Verification
The Snag

An unstructured problem space makes search intractable; the model wanders.

The Move

Decompose the problem into a defined space with explicit operators before asking for a solution.

The Cure

Structure the problem space so the path to the goal is searchable.

The Read

Framing the space — states, operators, goal — is what makes a task solvable by search.