The article explains the relevance of the topic. It emphasizes that the study of how to create a problem situation in the learning process is effective in theory and practice; the learning process relies on all cognitive processes; their unity and cognitive processing in students develop purposefully in the learning process. It recalls that thinking is necessary only where there are new goals, when the learned methods and means of action (although they are essential) are few, and such conditions are an example of a problem situation. Besides, the article provides the scientific and pedagogical explanations of the goals of creating cognitive needs through a problem situation, the reasons for the problem situation, the problem-solving process, the functions performed by the subjects of this activity, and the lawfulness and naturalness of the problem situation in the educational process. In this work, presented as a research paper, there is the following generalization: the independent acquisition of new knowledge and methods by students in a learning system formed by the level of development of pedagogical thought and practice does not occur outside the 'learning problem' solution; the emergence of a problem situation in this system is only the beginning of the mental activity.