INFORMATION

PROCESSING
• At the very heart of cognitive psychology is the idea of information processing. 

• Cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in much the

same way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to produce an
output.
 BROADBENT’S MODEL

• Broadbent and others in the 1950s adopted a model of the brain as a limited capacity
information processing system, through which external input is transmitted.

• Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent stages
of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the next.
• Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli.

• Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain and
can include coding and manipulation of the stimuli.

• Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a stimulus.

 INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY

• Information- Processing Theory was developed by American psychologists including George

Miller in the 1950s.

• It is a cognitive theory that focuses on how information is encoded into our memory.

• It describes how our brains filter information, from what we’re paying attention to in the present
moment, to what gets stored in our short-term or working memory and ultimately into our long-
term memory.
• George A. Miller has provided two theoretical ideas that are fundamental to the information
processing framework and cognitive psychology more generally.

• The first concept is `chunking' and the capacity of short term (working) memory.
• Miller (1956) presented the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of
information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk is any meaningful unit.
• A chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people's faces.

• The concept of chunking and the limited capacity of short term memory became a basic element of
all subsequent theories of memory.
• The second concept, that of information processing, uses the computer as a model for human
learning.

• Like the computer, the human mind takes in information, performs operations on it to change its
form and content, stores and locates it and generates responses to it.

• Thus, processing involves gathering and representing information, or encoding; holding

information or retention; and getting at the information when needed, or retrieval
INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL
 SENSORY MEMORY

• Sensory Memory deals with any information that can be perceived through the five senses.

• The Sensory Memory interacts with all of the incoming stimuli and helps decide what is important enough to
direct attention to.

• The Sensory Memory has a very limited capacity and duration; it can only handle between 3-7 units, or stimuli, at a
time and only for about 1- 3 seconds at a time before information is forgotten.

• A convenient way to think of the Sensory Memory is as a filter.

• It takes in the stimuli in the environment, gets rid of anything unimportant by forgetting, and focuses attention on
information that is important.
 WORKING MEMORY

• Once it is decided that information is important enough for attention, it finds its way into Working
Memory.

• The Working Memory provides temporary storage and manipulation of information being processed.

So, now that students have decided something is important, they can begin to consciously interact
with that information.
• With Working Memory, the capacity and duration are slightly longer than Sensory Memory, but not
by much. Capacity of the Working Memory is considered to be, on average, 7 (plus or minus 2)
chunks of information.
 EXAMPLE

• The human brain is very efficient at grouping information to make it easier to handle.
Consider, for example, how our brain interacts with phone numbers.

• We do not think of it as individual digits, but groups, or “chunks,” of digits (area code – three
digits – four digits).

• This is an example of chunking, which allows, in this case, for the consolidation of ten units
of information into three “chunks” of information.
• On average, the duration is about 5 – 15 seconds before it is forgotten.
• So, should information hold a student’s attention and enter Working Memory, if the
student does not process that information in some way, it is forgotten within 5 – 15
seconds.

• This is where the Working Memory begins its job: it is the processing, called Rehearsal.

 REHEARSAL

• Rehearsal refers to the manipulation of information currently stored in Working Memory.

• There are two main types of rehearsal: maintenance and elaborative.

•  Maintenance Rehearsal is rehearsal in which a thought or an idea is repeated over and
over in order to keep it in the Working Memory. 
• Maintenance Rehearsal is useful at keeping, or maintaining, information in
the Working Memory, but typically, information does not get much further, and is soon
forgotten once attention is directed elsewhere.
• The second type of rehearsal is referred to as Elaborative Rehearsal.

• With Elaborative Rehearsal, rather than just repeating information over and over, some sort of meaning
is attached to a term or piece of information.

• Through this process of attaching meaning in Elaborative Rehearsal, storage of the information is much
more efficient, requiring fewer repetitions than with Maintenance Rehearsal.

• Generally, the goal of Rehearsal is Encoding, or the storage of information into Long-Term Memory.

 LONG-TERM MEMORY

• Long-Term Memory provides permanent storage of information to later be retrieved.

• Unlike the previous two components of the Information Processing Model, Long-Term Memory is

assumed to have (nearly) infinite capacity and permanent duration.

• If information is encoded effectively into Long-Term Memory, we can say that learning has occurred.

• However, simply encoding information in Long-Term Memory does a student no good if he or she

cannot access it later.
• Accessing information stored in Long-Term Memory is referred to as Retrieval.

• Information encoded in Long-Term Memory cannot be interacted with directly.

• It must be retrieved from Long-Term Memory and brought back into Working

Memory where the information can once again be processed.
 RESEARCH FINDINGS:
• (1) rehearsal prevents the quick disappearance of information from short-term memory. Most
children do not begin to rehearse on their own until about age seven;

• (2) organization of material into chunks makes it much easier to remember;

• (3) meaningful learning occurs when the learner relates new information to prior ideas and
experiences; and

• (4) visual imagery is easier to recall than abstractions.

 IMPLICATIONS IN LEARNING

• . (1) all children, especially younger ones, can benefit from being taught rehearsal techniques;
• (2) teachers can aid students by presenting material in logical chunks and by showing students
• how to organize information on their own;
• (3) teachers should mediate learning by relating new information to students’ cultural knowledge
and by helping students to learn techniques of self-mediation; and
• (4) teachers should help students to develop learning skills that incorporate visual imagery and
other memory- aiding techniques