Information Processing Theory

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Information Processing Theory

• EDU 330 Educational Psychology
• Daniel Moos

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Phraseology example
Tall in the the saddle
Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the role of prior knowledge and experience
in learning?
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• 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.
Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the role of prior knowledge and experience
in learning? Implications for teachers?
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Numbers example
3
1
8
6
5
0
4
7
1
1
0
2
8
2
0
1
Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the importance of organization in learning?
What does this activity suggest about the maximum
number of items we can learn at one time?
Implications for teachers?
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Months example
As quickly as you can
state the months of the year

state the months of the year, alphabetically

Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the role of how we originally learn in
retrieving this knowledge? Implications for
teachers?
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Riding a bike example

• On a scale of 1 (very poorly) to 5 (very easily),
  how well can you ride a bike?
• Turn to your neighbor and discuss how you would
  teach someone who does not know how to ride a
  bike
• On a scale of 1 (very hard) to 5 (very easy),
  describe the difficulty level you just
  experienced in describing how you might teach
  someone to ride a bike
• Why might there be a discrepancy between your
  expertise and ability to teach?

Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the challenges experts might face in
teaching novices? Implications for teaching?
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Color example
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
Guiding Question What does this activity suggest
about the role of attention and perception in
learning? Implications for teachers?
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Cognitive processes IPT ModelAssumptions of
each stage
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The Sensory Memory

• Capacity
• ? Very large
• Duration
• ? 1 to 3 seconds
• Contents
• ? Raw sensory data (encoded in same form as
  perceived)

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The Sensory Memoryand Its Control Processes

• Recognition
• ? Noting key features of a stimulus and relating
  them to already stored information
• Attention
• ? Selective focusing on a portion of the
  information currently stored in the sensory
  register
• ? What we attend to is influenced by information
  in long-term memory

Phraseology example Tall in the the saddle
Color example Selecting focusing
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Working Memory(also calledShort-Term Memory)

• Capacity
• ? 7 /- 2 chunks of information
• Duration
• ? 20 to 30 seconds
• Contents
• ? What you are currently thinking about
  (information from the sensory register and
  information from long term memory)

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Numbers exampleDate is relevant/long-term
memory
Working Memory(also calledShort-Term
Memory) Control process

• Rehearsal
• ? Maintenance Rehearsal
• Repeating information over and over again no
  (or minimal) effect on long-term memory storage
• ? Elaborative Rehearsal
• Relating new information to knowledge already
  stored in long-term memory

Words example 2nd list of words meaningful
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Working Memory(also calledShort-Term
Memory)Control processes, continued

• Organization
• ? Putting interrelated pieces of information into
  chunks
• Meaningfulness
• ? When new material can be related to information
  in long-term memory
• Visual Imagery Encoding
• ? Generating images in your mind of objects,
  ideas, and actions

Numbers exampleChunking numbers into date
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Cognitive processes Metacognition (II)

• Total Processing Space in Working Memory
  (short-term memory)

Operating Space
Storage Space
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Cognitive Processes IPT application (I)

• Reducing cognitive load Overcoming limitations
  of working memory
• Chunking
• Automaticity
• Is it effective to multi-task?only if you are an
  expert with at least one of the tasks
• Dual-Coding Theory

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Short-term Memory and Its Control Processes
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Short-term Memory and Its Control Processes
(contd)
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Long-Term Memory

• Capacity
• ? Unlimited
• Duration
• ? Permanent, long-term
• Contents
• Schema (or schemata), which affect information
  in short term memory (i.e. misconceptions)
• Explicit knowledge knowledge we CAN easily
  recall and explain
• Implicit knowledge knowledge we CANNOT easily
  recall and explain

Riding a bike example Implicit vs. explicit
Association Categorization example
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Cognitive processes Forgetting

• 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 dissonance

• Hot vs. Cold cognition
• Example I just recently read a story about some
  advanced technologies that measure metacognition.
  How do you think that made me feel and not just
  think?
• What benefits arise from situations that result
  in hot cognition?
• Cognitive dissonance Information strongly
  contradicts something we know or strongly believe
  to be true.
• Result can be either a help (with an open mind)
  or hinderance

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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.