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Information processing
Cognitive psychology developed around the late 1950s at a time when technology was developing computers capable of manipulating large amounts of data more and more rapidly. The group of information processing theorists which came out of cognitive psychology research used the computer as a model for the way humans think. This branch of cognitive psychology looks at the way people take in, process and act on information focussing on attention, perception and memory.
Over the last fifteen years, cognitive psychology, and in particular the information processing model, has become dominant partly because of the insights the model gives us in describing and explaining cognitive (mental) processes, such as thinking and problem solving. These are of course what teachers and trainers are very interested in. Effective use of these cognitive processes depends on our understanding of the information processing model.
Like a computer, the human mind takes information, organises it, stores it for later use and then retrieves it when necessary. In a computer, information (data) is entered into the computer through a keyboard or scanner or another input device. The human corollary for this would be the ears, the eyes or another sensory organ. In the computer the data needs to be processed, i.e. comparisons and logical decisions made. The 'brains' of the computer is the Central Processing Unit (CPU) where the data is processed. The human match for this task is called Working Memory where we think about and process the entered data. To store its information the computer uses hard disks, floppy disks and tapes. Humans store information in Long Term Memory. Having processed the information, computers need to do something with that information. This may be visual display on the screen or hardcopy paper output. The human equivalent is talking, walking, smiling, or shaking hands. Simply put – action.
According to this view there are three kinds of memory:
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Sensory registers. The part of the memory that receives all the information a person senses.
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Short-term memory (STM). Also known as working memory, the part of memory where new information is held temporarily until it is either lost or placed into long-term memory.
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Long-term memory (LTM). The part of memory which has an unlimited capacity and can hold information indefinitely. (Roblyer & Edwards 2000, p. 55)
When people pay attention to information picked up by the sensory registers it goes into the working memory, if they don’t pay attention it is lost. Once in working memory it needs to be processed or practiced within 5 to 20 seconds for it to be transferred to the long-term memory. New information will only be transferred to LTM when it is linked in some way to prior knowledge already in LTM. Information is translated into some meaningful form (encoded) and retrieved through a process of identification and recall for a particular purpose. Learning is the result of individuals successfully encoding new information or recoding existing information in a new way. They can then recall that information from memory and use it.
Encoding
The key factors for effective encoding of information include ensuring that the material is meaningful and that activation of prior knowledge occurs. Strategies for assisting encoding include chunking, rehearsal, imagery, mnemonics, schema activation, and level of processing.
- Chunking is breaking the information up into manageable chunks. Try to remember 'OFHRTJUDYCX' or alternatately 'OFH RTJ UDY CX'
- Rehearsal can be either simple repetition, or more elaborate when the information to be remembered is linked to other information.
- Imagery can be simple as with a conjured image of an object such as a book, or complex, as with a concept such as justice.
- Mnemonics are memory strategies that help people remember information. Often a mnemonic is a rhyme or pairing of to-be-learned information with well-learned information.
- Schema activation is a strategy to use with encoding complex information. This relates new information to students' prior knowledge.
- Level of processing assumes that material that is only skimmed will not be as deeply processed as material that is studied in detail.
Cognitive strategies enhance learning because the effective use of such strategies minimises the demands on working memory. The problem is that children are not strategic learners. They have to be taught how to use particular strategies. A student who is good at strategic learning may possess the following:
- a broad range of strategies
- knowledge of when, why and how to use the strategies (metacognition)
- a broad knowledge base
- the ability to focus and ignore distractions.
Retrieval
We've looked at encoding where the information is placed in memory and now we need to look at retrieving that information. One of the key factors affecting retrieval is encoding specificity which has been shown to enhance retrieval if the cues present at encoding are present at recall.
Other factors that affect retrieval (remembering) include the structure of the material, practice, relearning, and continued exposure to the content.
Coding and classifying information through concept maps or networking also appear to benefit learning and recall.
Types of long-term memory
There are two type of Long Term Memory: declarative knowledge, which deals with factual knowledge, and procedural knowledge, which deals with knowing how to perform an activity.
The building blocks of cognition
The four building blocks of cognition are:
| concepts | grouping objects into meaningful categories |
|---|---|
| propositions | declarative knowledge : the smallest unit of knowledge that can stand as a separate assertion |
| productions | procedural knowledge: a way of representing condition-action rules |
| schemata | hypothesised data structures within which knowledge is stored |
The importance of IPT for educators
Information processing theory sits well with educationalists because it deals with intellectual performance including the use of:
- attention - e.g. directing mental effort towards important aspects of a situation or event;
- memory strategies - e.g. using mnemonics such as Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit for the notes on a music staff;
- study and comprehension skill - e.g. highlighting key points and making summaries;
- concept mapping - e.g. setting out the relationship between key ideas in a topic in diagram forming;
- problem solving - e.g. understanding the role of knowledge, the way problems may be represented;
- metacognition - e.g. thinking about thinking and deciding how best to manage mental processes;
- pattern recognition - e.g. identifying meaningful relationships;
- elaboration - e.g. bringing together what we know about something in order to integrate our knowledge.
Research into information processing theories suggest that:
- there are limits to the amount of information that learners can attend to and process effectively;
- learners need to be actively engaged in processing information in order to transfer it from short-term memory to long term memory;
- recall of information is facilitated when the learnt material is encoded in some way.
Information processing refers to the way we handle information. From the information processing viewpoint, people are active learners who can control and manipulate information and devise strategies to deal with particular situations, for example, thinking aloud when completing a complex task. This approach is comfortable for adult learners and vocational educators, as are the concepts of self-directed learning and lifelong learning.
The information processing approach has continued to gain strength with an increasing amount of research related to the senses, encoding, memory, retrieval, problem solving, metacognition, perception, language, attention and so on as evidenced by the large number of recent publications in this field.
During the last two decades, information processing theories have been used widely to explain or provide a major perspective on human learning. The information processing perspective is linked with the development of computers and improved knowledge of the functions and processes of the nervous system. Computers provide an avenue for research on human capabilities and learning processes because they stimulate a number of complex human functions and specifically because information is involved. Most educators would recognise the importance of information processing theory because it emphasises:
- the importance of meaning and context in learning,
- the key role of prior knowledge in learning,
- the need for meaningful feedback,
- the need for knowledge to be available in an integrated form,
- the importance of metacognition (self awareness and self regulation of thinking),
- the limitations of short-term memory which may result in mental overload when too much information has to be considered at once,
- different kinds of knowledge are stored in long term memory in different forms - this influences the ways in which the kinds of knowledge are used
- skills - procedures which have become automatic,
- strategies which remain conscious but enable us to process knowledge more effectively.
| USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOM | |
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(Huitt, W. 2000. The Information Processing Approach.)
Further reading:
Information Processing Theory: 
Information Process Theory of Learning
The Information Processing Approach
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