Information Processing Theory

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Information Processing Theory

• EDU 330 Educational Psychology
• Daniel Moos

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IPT A review
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Cognitive processes Metacognition (I)

• Metacognition Thinking about our thinking
  control over and awareness of our cognitive
  processes
• Meta-attention What might you do if you were up
  late the night before class and know that you
  might have trouble staying awake during class?
• Metamemory What types of strategies do you use
  when reading for this class?
• ? Developmental differences?

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Cognitive processes Metacognition (II)

• Total Processing Space in Working Memory
  

Operating Space
Storage Space
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Cognitive ProcessesOther processes

• What are some critical processes when we process
  information?
• Prior knowledge Elaboration
• Activity (Active vs. Passive strategies)
• Interference forgetting
• Metacognition

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Cognitive processes Prior domain knowledge

• In 1763 Marian and the settlements ended a
  seven-year war with the Langurians and Pitoks. As
  a result of this war Languia was driven out of
  East Bacol. Marain would now rule Laman and other
  lands that had belonged to Languia. This brought
  peace to Bacolian settlements. The settlers no
  longer had to fear attacks from Laman. The
  Bacolians were happy to be part of Marain in
  1763. Yet a dozen years later, these same people
  would be fighting the for independence (Beck and
  Mckeown, 1993, p.2)

In 1763 Britain and the settlements ended a
seven-year war with the French and Native
Americans. As a result of this war, the French
were driven out of North America. Britain would
now rule Canada and other lands that had belonged
to the French. This brought peace to the North
American settlements. The settlers no longer had
to fear attacks from Canada. The North Americans
were happy to be part of Britain in 1763. Yet a
dozen years later, these same people would be
fighting the for independence.
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Cognitive processes Elaboration

• 1. You have seen a movie and you remember some
  of the details exactly. Sometime later you see
  the same movie again, and to your surprise some
  of the dialogue and events are not as you
  remembered it. Why might this happen?
• 2. Three people are in a room discussing a
  mutual experience. One person remembers the
  event in a certain way, the second remembers it
  differently, and the third remembers it in a
  way that is different from either than the other
  two.
• How is this event similar to the first one? Why
  might the three people remember the experience
  differently?

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Cognitive processes Activity

• Active vs. Passive strategies...

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Cognitive processes Forgetting (I)

• Why do we forget information?
• Encoding is the key to retrieval
• Retrieval failure may be due to encoding
• Example State the months of the year
• Example State the months of the year
  alphabetically
• Why is it more difficult to state the months of
  the year alphabetically?
• Diversity in backgrounds influences encoding and
  retrieval

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Cognitive processes Forgetting (II)

• Why do we have trouble retrieving knowledge?
• Interference

As quickly as you can, quietly say the COLOR and
not the pronunciation of the following words
(from left to right)
Example Yellow Blue
RED BLACK BLUE BLACK YELLOW
BLACK RED YELLOW BLUE BLACK
RED BLACK BLUE BLACK YELLOW RED
YELLOW BLUE BLACK RED
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Cognitive processes Applying IPT to the
classroom

• Begin lessons with an activity that attracts
  attention.
• Conduct frequent reviews to activate students
  prior knowledge and check their perceptions.
• Proceed in short steps and represent content both
  visually and verbally to reduce cognitive load.
• Help students make information meaningful and aid
  encoding through organization, imagery,
  elaboration, and activity.
• Model and encourage metacogniton.

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Cognitive processes Strengths and weaknesses

• What are some factors that influence the amount
  you study? The amount you learn?
• Which of these factors are addressed in the IPT?
  Which are not addressed?