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Information Processing Theory

The information processing theory views the mind as a symbol manipulating system similar to a computer. It analyzes how children process information by encoding, storing, retrieving, and manipulating symbols. The theory proposes that children's cognitive development is limited by their information processing capacity and speed, which grows through increased automaticity and construction of new strategies. As children's encoding skills, working memory, and ability to apply prior knowledge improves, they can overcome processing limitations and solve more complex problems.

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Preethi neelam
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304 views

Information Processing Theory

The information processing theory views the mind as a symbol manipulating system similar to a computer. It analyzes how children process information by encoding, storing, retrieving, and manipulating symbols. The theory proposes that children's cognitive development is limited by their information processing capacity and speed, which grows through increased automaticity and construction of new strategies. As children's encoding skills, working memory, and ability to apply prior knowledge improves, they can overcome processing limitations and solve more complex problems.

Uploaded by

Preethi neelam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY

INTRODUCTION
• Information processing views the mind as a complex, symbol manipulating system much
like a computer

• Helps to understand what children of different ages do when they face wirh tasks/ problem

• Information processing involves attention, memory and thinking

• Within this model humans are compared to computer


THE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
• First advanced by klahr and Wallace (1976) and siegler(1998)

• It analyses how children manipulate information, monitor it and create strategies for
handling it. (Halford & Andrews,2011)

• It emphasizes the detailed analyses of the process involved in individual tasks given to a
child and hi/her ability to meet the processing demands
• Computer hardware determines the amount of data it
can process and the speed of processing
• Neurological development determine the
human capacity and speed of information
processing
• From the time an information is presented to the senses as (input) until it emerges as
behavioural response (output), information is actively coded, transformed and organized.

• Children’s IP – limited by the capacity and speed and ability to process information

• Cognitive development depend upon the ability to overcome processing limitations by


acquiring, expanding, executing new knowledge and strategies
SPEED AND CAPACITY OF
INFORMATION PROCESSING
• Speed and capacity – “cognitive resources” – influences memory and problem solving

• Biology and experience contributes to growth in cognitive resources.

• Increases in speed underlie age related changes in cognitive skills

• So processing speed may underlie individual differences in IQ scores


MECHANISM OF CHANGE
• According to ROBERT SIEGLER (1998) – 3 mechanisms that work together to create
change in the cognitive skills.

1. ENCODING

2. AUTOMATICITY

3. STRATEGY CONSTRUCTION
ENCODING
• The process by which information gets in to memory

• Changes in children’s cognitive skills depend on increased skills at encoding relevant


information and ignoring irrelevant information

• Eg : To a 4 year old , S in cursive writing is a shape very different from S in printed form.
But for a 10 year old – he has learned to encode the relevant facts that both are letter
“S” and he ignores the difference the shape
• Encoding – Initial stage of receiving a stimulus

• Influenced by maturation and experience – novices remember new information less well
than an expert
AUTOMATICITY
• The ability to process information with little or no effort

• Practice allows to encode more information automatically

• Once a task is automatic – doesn’t require conscious effort – IP becomes more automatic
STRATEGY CONSTRUCTION
• Creation of new procedures for processing information

Eg: children’s reading benefits when they develop strategy of stopping periodically to
take stock of what they have read so far (pressley,2007)
SELF MODIFICATION
• Children learn to use what they have learned previously to adapt their responses to a new
situation

• Metacognition – part of self modification


INFORMATION PROCESSING
MODEL OF MEMORY
• Memory is the retention of information over time
• According to Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) , 3 stages of mental processing

1. Sensory memory
• Associated with sensual perception
• Act as portal for all information that is to be a part of the memory
• Last for about ½ sec to 3 sec
2. Short term memory

• Working memory

• Conscious/active memory that is actively processed when a new information is being taken
in

• Lasts for 15-30sec

• May be lost if not rehearsed


• 3. long term memory

• Houses all previous perceptions, knowledge and information learned by an individual

• Permanent store of information – resides in a dormant state-unitl fetched it back into


consciousness

• Information stored for extended period of time and limits of its capacity is not known

• Chunking and rehearsal helps to keep informing as long term


3 STAGES OF MEMORY
1. External stimuli

2. Sensory memory

3. Short term memory

4. Long term memory


IPM OF ATTENTION AND
THINKING
• Attention is the focusing of mental resources

• Improves cognitive processing for many tasks

1. Selective attention
2. Dividend attention
3. Sustained attention
4. Executive attention
STEPS IN INFORMATION PROCESSING
1. Encoding
• Input of the information into the memory system
• Sensory information is organized with other similar information and connect it with existing
concepts
• This occurs through automaticity
• Types of encoding
:- semantic encoding
:-visual encoding
:-acoustic encoding
2. STORAGE
• permanent record of information
• For a memory to go into storage , it has to move through S.M*S.T.M**L.T.M

rehearsal

Sensory encoding
Incoming memory Working Long term
information memory memory
retreival

forgett
forgo
on
tton
3. RETRIEVAL
• Act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious
Awareness
• 3 ways of retrieval :

1. RECALL : Accessing information without cues


2. RECOGNITION : identifying information that was learned after encountering it again-
involves comparison process
3. RELEARNING : learning information that was learned before
STRENGTHS OF INFORMATION PROCESSING
THEORY

• It acknowledges that humans have immense thinking capability

• The theory is being utilized in the study of computer of artificial intelligences

• Looks closely at how stimulation from the environment goes though the process of attention,
perception and storage throughout a series of distinct memory stores
CRITICISMS OF INFORMATION
PROCESSING THEORY
• The metaphor of the computer is off-putting to many people. No current computer program
can be truly simulate the full range of human cognition

• It doesn’t account for fundamental developmental changes in the brain

• It gives excess focus on the internal cognitive processes, and pays little focus on
environment influence or the nature of external stimuli to which the individual’s is exposed
to

• It doesn’t consider individual or cultural differences


THANK YOU

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