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. Cognitive psychology compares the human
mind to a computer, suggesting that we too are information processors and that it is possible and desirable to
study the internal mental processes that lie between the stimuli (in our environment) and the response we make.
Basic Assumptions
The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including:
(1) Information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing systems (e.g.
attention, perception, short-term memory);
(2) These processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways;
(3) Information processing in humans resembles that in computers.
Computer - Mind Analogy

The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important influence on psychology and was, in
part, responsible for the cognitive approach becoming the dominant approach in modern psychology (taking
over from behaviorism).
The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which they could compare human mental
processing. The use of the computer as a tool for thinking how the human mind handles information is known
as the computer analogy. Essentially, computer codes (i.e. changes) information, stores information, uses
information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was adopted by
cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works.
For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric neural activity which is fed
back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This information is can be used by other parts of the brain
relating to mental activities such as memory, perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for
example, to read what you can see on a printed page.
Stage Model of Information Processing
One of the major issues in cognitive psychology is the study of memory. The dominant view is labeled the
"stage theory" and is based on the work of Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968).
This model proposes that information is processed and stored in 3 stages.
Sensory memory: Sensory memory is affiliated with the transduction of energy (change from one energy from
to another). The environment makes available a variety of sources of information (light, sound, smell, heat,
cold, etc.), but the brain only understands electrical energy. The body has special sensory receptor cells that
transduce (change from one form of energy to another) this external energy to something the brain can
understand. In the process of transduction, a memory is created. This memory is very short (less than 1/2 second
for vision; about 3 seconds for hearing). It is absolutely critical that the learner attend to the information at this
initial stage in order to transfer it to the next one. There are two major concepts for getting information into
STM:
First, individuals are more likely to pay attention to a stimulus if it has an interesting feature. We are more
likely to get an orienting response if this is present.
Second, individuals are more likely to pay attention if the stimulus activates a known pattern. To the extent we
have students call to mind relevant prior learning before we begin our presentations; we can take advantage of
this principle.
Short-term memory (STM). Short-term memory is also called working memory and relates to what we are
thinking about at any given moment in time. In Freudian terms, this is conscious memory. It is created by our
paying attention to an external stimulus, an internal thought, or both. It will initially last somewhere around 15
to 20 seconds unless it is repeated (called maintenance rehearsal) at which point it may be available for up to 20
minutes. The hypothalamus is a brain structure thought to be involved in this shallow processing of information.
The frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex is the structure associated with working memory. For example, you are
processing the words you read on the screen in your frontal lobes. However, if I ask, "What is your telephone
number?" your brain immediately calls that from long-term memory and replaces what was previously there.
Another major limit on information processing in STM is in terms of the number of units that can be processed
at any one time. Miller (1956) gave the number as 7 + 2, but more recent research suggests the number may be
more like 5 + 2 for most things we are trying to remember. Because of the variability in how much individuals
can work with (for some it may be three, for others seven) it is necessary to point out important information.
If some students can only process three units of information at a time, let us make certain it is the most
important three.
There are two major concepts for retaining information in STM: organization and repetition. There are four
major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design:
 Component (part/whole)--classification by category or concept (e.g., the components of the
teaching/learning model);
 Sequential -- chronological; cause/effect; building to climax (e.g., baking a cake, reporting on a
research study);
 Relevance -- central unifying idea or criteria (e.g., appropriate management strategies for middle
school and high school students);
 Transitional (connective) -- relational words or phrases used to indicate qualitative change over
time (e.g., stages in Piaget's theory of cognitive development or Erikson's stages of
socioemotional development)
A related issue to organization is the concept of chunking or grouping pieces of data into units. For example, the
letters "b d e" constitute three units of information while the word "bed" represents one unit even though it is
composed of the same number of letters. Chunking is a major technique for getting and keeping information in
short-term memory; it is also a type of elaboration that will help get information into long-term memory.
Repetition or rote rehearsal is a technique we all use to try to "learn" something. However, in order to be
effective this must be done after forgetting begins. Researchers advise that the learner should not repeat
immediately the content (or skill), but wait a few minutes and then repeat. For the most part, simply
memorizing something does not lead to learning (i.e., relatively permanent change). We all have anecdotal
evidence that we can remember something we memorized (a poem for example), but just think about all the
material we tried to learn this way and the little we are able to remember after six months or a year.
Long-term memory (LTM). Long-term memory is also called preconscious and unconscious memory in
Freudian terms. Preconscious means that the information is relatively easily recalled (although it may take
several minutes or even hours) while unconscious refers to data that is not available during normal
consciousness. It is preconscious memory that is the focus of cognitive psychology as it relates to long-term
memory. The two processes most likely to move information into long-term memory are elaboration and
distributed practice.
Organization (types) of knowledge
As information is stored in long-term memory, it is organized using one or more structures: declarative,
procedural, and/or imagery.
Declarative Memory (generally refers to information we can talk about)
 Semantic Memory-- facts and generalized information (concepts, principles, rules; problem-
solving strategies; learning strategies)
  Episodic Memory-- personal experience (information in stories and analogies)
Procedural Memory-- how to (driving a car, riding a bike)
Imagery -- pictures
USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOM

USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOM

Principle Example
 Use cues to signal when you are ready to begin.
1. Gain the students' attention.
 Move around the room and use voice inflections.
2. Bring to mind relevant prior  Review previous day's lesson.
learning.  Have a discussion about previously covered content.
 Provide handouts.
3. Point out important information.
 Write on the board or use transparencies.
4. Present information in an  Show a logical sequence to concepts and skills.
organized manner.  Go from simple to complex when presenting new material.
5. Show students how to categorize
 Present information in categories.
(chunk) related information.
6. Provide opportunities for
 Connect new information to something already known.
students to elaborate on new
 Look for similarities and differences among concepts.
information.
 Make up silly sentence with first letter of each word in the
7. Show students how to use coding
list.
when memorizing lists.
 Use mental imagery techniques such as the keyword method.
 State important principles several times in different ways
during presentation of information (STM).
 Have items on each day's lesson from previous lesson
8. Provide for repetition of learning.
(LTM).
 Schedule periodic reviews of previously learned concepts
and skills (LTM).
9. Provide opportunities for
 Use daily drills for arithmetic facts.
overlearning of fundamental
concepts and skills.
Vygotsky’s Social Constructivists Theory of Learning

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist. He is considered as the father of social constructivist
theory. He followed the work of Jean Piaget – who is attributed as the roots of constructivism . While Piaget
focused on stages of child development and individual construction of knowledge, Vygotsky identified the
greater socio-cultural context. Although Vygotsky died at the age of 38 in 1934, most of his publications did not
appear in English until after 1960. There are, however, a growing number of applications of social
constructivism in the area of educational technology.

Constructivism
What is meant by constructivism? The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves,
each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning, as he or she learns. Constructing meaning is
learning; there is no other kind.

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), known for his theory of social constructivism, believes that learning and
development is a collaborative activity and that children are cognitively developed in the context of
socialization and education.
For learning to occur, the child first makes contact with the social environment on an interpersonal level and
then internalizes this experience. New experiences influence the child, who then constructs new ideas.
Vygotsky’s constructivism is known as social constructivism because of the significance of culture and social
context.
Vygotsky’s approach Social Development Theory argues that social interaction precedes development;
consciousness and cognition are the end product of socialization and social behaviour. It asserts three major
themes regarding social interaction, the more knowledgeable other (MKO), and the zone of proximal
development (ZPD).

Social Interaction: Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development.
Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural
development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level. Social Level is between
people which is called as interpsychological and then individual level which is inside the child – called
intrapsychological
In interpsychological level, child gain knowledge through contacts and interactions with people and then later
the child assimilates and internalizes this knowledge adding own personal value to it in intrapsychological level
In order to gain an understanding of Vygotsky's theories on cognitive development, one must understand two of
the main principles of Vygotsky's work: the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) and the Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD).
More Knowledgeable Other
The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is somewhat self-explanatory; it refers to someone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept.
Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult, this is not necessarily the case. Many
times, a child's peers or an adult child may be the individual with more knowledge or experience.
In fact, the MKO need not be a person at all. Some companies, to support employees in their learning process,
are now using electronic performance support systems.
Electronic tutors have also been used in educational settings to facilitate and guide students through the learning
process. The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be programmed with) more knowledge about the topic
being learned than the learner does.
Scaffolding
Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding is closely related to the concept of the zone of proximal development.
Scaffolding refers to the temporary support given to a child by More Knowledgeable Others, usually parents or
teachers, that enable the child to perform a task until such time that the child can already perform the task
independently.
Zone of Proximal Development
The concept of the More Knowledgeable Other is integrally related to the second important principle of
Vygotsky's work, the Zone of Proximal Development.
This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can achieve independently and
what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner. Vygotsky defines the Zone
of Proximal Development (ZPD) as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving
under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”
For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle (in the example above) by itself and would have taken
a long time to do so (if at all), but was able to solve it following interaction with the father, and has developed
competence at this skill that will be applied to future jigsaws.
Vygotsky sees the Zone of Proximal Development as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance
should be given - allowing the child to develop skills they will then use on their own - developing higher mental
functions.
Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies. He suggests
that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more
skillful peers - within the zone of proximal development.
Vygotsky and Language
Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Vygotsky
viewed language as man’s greatest tool, a means for communicating with the outside world.
According to Vygotsky (1962) language plays two critical roles in cognitive development:
1: It is the main means by which adults transmit information to children.
2: Language itself becomes a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation.
 Educational Implications of Piaget's Theory

Piaget's theory has had a major impact on the theory and practice of education. It has helped to create a view where the focus of
attention is on the idea of developmentally appropriate education. This refers to an educational with environments, curriculum,
materials and instruction that are consisteny with student's physical and cognitive abilities as well as their social and emotional
needs.

There are four main teaching implications drawn from Piaget's theory (Slavin, 2005):
1. A focus on the process of children's thinking, not just its products. Instead of simply checking for a correct answer, teachers
should emphasize the student's understanding and process they used to get the answer.

2.Recognition of the crucial role of children's self-initiated, active involvement in learning activities. In a Piagetian classroom,
children are encourage to discover themselves through spontaneous interaction with the environment, rather than the presentation of
ready-made knowledge.

3. A deemphasis on practices aimed at making children adult like in their thinking. This refers to what Piaget referred to as the
"American question" which is "How can we speed up development?". His belief is that trying to speed up and accelerate children's
process through the stages could be worse than no teaching at all.
4. Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress. Piaget's theory asserts that children go through all the same
developmental stages, however they do so at different rates. Because of this, teachers must make special effort to arrange classroom
activities for individuals and groups of children rather than for the whole class group.

The educational implication of Piaget's theory is the adaptation of instruction to the learner's development level. It is important that
the content of instruction needs to be consistent with the developmental level of the learner.

The teachers main role is the facilitation of learning by providing various experiences for the students. "Discovery Learning" allows
opportunities for students to explore and experiment, while encouraging new understandings. Opportunities that allow learners of
different cognitive levels to work together often help encourage less mature students to advance to a higher understanding of the
material. One future implication for the instruction of students is the use of hands on experiences to help students learn (Wood, 2008).

Some general suggestions include:

~ The use of concrete props and visual aids, such as models and/or time lines
~ Facilitate learning by using familiar examples to explain complex ideas, such as a story problem in math
~ Give students the opportunities to classify & group information, use outlines & hierarchies to facilitate assimilation of new
information with previously learned knowledge.
~Present problems that require logical analytical thinking, "brain teasers" are a great way to incorporate this

Activities for the Stages of Cognitive Development

How can information on the Stages of Cognitive Development apply to teaching?

Here are some practical ways to teach children in each of

Piaget's four stages of Cognitive Development.

There are many practical applications that can be made from

this theory. By using them in our teaching, we can hopefully
teach students in a way that will help them be the most effective
learners.

Sensorimotor Period: Activities for Infants and Toddlers

The term "sensorimotor" comes from the child understanding their world largely through their senses for their first 2 years. This
stage is characterized by the lack of language and internal representation. It focuses on the reflexes that the child is born with
such as sucking, reaching and grasping. In this stage of development the child eventually develops primary circular reactions,
which are activities centered on the child’s body and repetitious in nature. Eventually, children develop the coordination
of separate activities and the evolution of language. A final achievement in this stage is recognizing cause-and-effect
relationships.
-Provide a rich stimulating environment

-Allow the child to play with toys that squeak when squeezed. (ex: rubber duck) At first
when the child squeezes the toy, they will be surprised by the sound and why it
happened. However, after some time the child will realize that by squeezing the toy they
are the one causing the noise. This gives an example of cause-and-effect relationships: if
I squeeze the duck, it will squeak.

-Another example of a toy is a rattle; when the baby shakes a rattle it makes noise.

-Playing peek-a-boo is another good example of a fun activity for children around this
age.
Preoperational Period: Activities for Toddlers and Early Childhood

This stage is in effect when children are about 2 to 7 years old. This stage is characterized by the inability to understand all the
properties of classes. Transductive reasoning is also characteristic of this age groups thinking. Transductive reasoning involves
making inferences from one specific to another based on faulty logic. Egocentrism and conservation are also characteristic of
this age group. Egocentrism is the inability to take another person's point of view into account. One way to help children
overcome egocentrism is to help them face another person’s perspective by putting themselves in the others “shoes”.

-One way to do this is by playing dress up and encouraging the child to

take on a character.

- Sometimes children in this age group enjoy playing house. This is also
a good activity because they are playing different roles that they have
observed in their own lives.

-Hands on activities should also be facilitated at this time.

-Encourage children to play with toys that change shape (ex: playdoh,
sand, clay, water) because this will help them move towards the concept
of conservation.

Children need physical, hands on practice with facts and skills needed
for development.
-Use cut-out letters to build words.

-Avoid lessons that are very different from the child's world. And steer
away from using workbooks or paper and pencil activities very often.

Concrete Operations: Activities for Middle Childhood

In this stage children evolve from pre-logical, egocentric thinking to a more rule-regulated type of thinking. Some of the rules of
logic include reversibility, identity, and compensation. One activity that a child at this age would enjoy is a cooking activity
with their mom or dad.
If you get creative you can incorporate several components of Piaget’s theories into this activity. Baking involves
measurements, which would be useful to the concept of conservation. Measuring cups come in all different shapes so it would
be fun to measure the exact same measurement using different types of measuring utensils. Also the ingredients could be
classified into different categories such as the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and so on. Numbers and seriating come
into play with the distinct steps in the directions. Children around this age group usually really enjoy helping out in the kitchen,
especially if it’s baking something fun like cookies, so it turns into a great learning opportunity.

-Give children the chance to manipulate objects and test out ideas
-Do simple experiments, with participation of the students

Avoid dealing with more than three of four variables at a time

-Reading selections should have a limited number of characters
-Experiments should have a limited number of steps

Students should have practice classifying objects and ideas on complex levels
-Have students group sentences on a piece of paper
-Use analogies to show the relationship of new material to already acquired knowledge.

Formal Operations: Activities for Adolescents

This period is characterized by applying their logic directly to real

objects or situations.

At the beginning of this stage:

-Teachers should continue using strategies and materials used in the
concrete operations stage.
-Use charts and illustrations, as well as incorporate new more
sophisticated graphs and diagrams
 -Give step by step explanations and materials
Students need the opportunity to explore various hypothetical situations.

Children in this stage should be encouraged to work in groups in school to explain and discuss hypothetical topics.
For example: have then discuss social issues in groups and brainstorm.

Have them write a short story on a hypothetical topic such as what life would be like in outer space. This allows the child to
apply their new creative aspect.

Students should also be encouraged to explain how they solved a problem.

-Students could work in pairs, one is the listener, while the other is the problems solver. The problem solver works the problem
out loud, while the listener checks to see that all steps are followed and seem logical.
-Teachers could put a few essay questions on a test, which allows students the opportunity to give more than one final answer.

Teachers should try to teach broad concepts, rather than just facts.
-Use materials and ideas relevant to the students
-For example: If you were teaching material about the Civil War, the class could join in a discussion about other issues which
have divided our country
-Use lyrics from a popular song to teach poetry

It is important to note that adolescence may reach formal operations at different times or in some cases not at all!!!

Huitt and Hummel (1998) suggest that "only 35% of high school graduates in industrialized countries
obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally during adulthood." This is significant in
terms of developing instruction and performance support tools for students who are chronologically
adults, but may be limited in their understanding of abstract concepts. For both adolescent and adult
students, it is important to incorporate these instructional strategies:

~ The use of visual aids

~ Opportunities to discuss social, political, and cultural issues
~Teach broad concepts rather than facts