Chapter 7 - Information Processing

how do we process information?

Stimuli → gets your attention → encoded into memory → thinking → response 

attention in infancy

• not great, easily bored

• orienting/investigation

• habituation and dishabituation

• gaining joint attention is a development milestone (our knowledge that our actions impact another’s actions)

attention in childhood

• significant in early childhood

• begins gaining executive and sustained attention

  • (focus on completing steps to perform a task)

• not good at choosing what to focus on

• attention to salient elements that are not relevant to task

attention in adolescence

• increase shifting attention abilities as needed

• increased focus on only relevant information

• executive attention is even more important with increase in responsibility

attention in adulthood

• excellent in young adulthood

• maintenance in midlife

• old age sees decrease in selective attention; decrease performance on complex/demanding tasks

• experience matters

salient stimuli

stimuli that stand out that may or may not be relevant to a task

joint attention

directing someone else’s attention; requires social cognition

selective attention

orienting attention to something specific; ex: trying to listen to a friend at a loud party

divided attention

focusing on more than one thing at once; we are not good at this; ex: texting and driving

sustained attention

maintaining attention on something for an extended period of time; ex: reading, video games, etc.

executive attention

planning actions, allocating attention goals, monitoring task progress; gets you to refocus; ex: gettin distracted by your phone while studying and then refocusing

how do we store memories?

Encoding (getting info into memory) → storage (retaining info over time) → retrieval (taking info out of storage)

working memory

actively manipulating info; mental “workbench” to manipulate and assemble info

short-term memory

closely related to working memory; holds into for 15-30 seconds without rehearsal

you can usually hold 5-7 items + / - 2 items in your short term memory

long term memory

relative permanent and unlimited; lots of subtypes; ex: feeling of the sun on your face, familiar faces, breakfast you ate today

generally speaking, if you retain information for more than that 30 second short-term threshold, it is encoded into your long term memory, but this information can be lost later

implicit/procedural memory

without conscious recollection; memories of skills and routine procedures performed automatically; ex: riding a bike

explicit/declarative

conscious memory of facts and experiences; two types: episodic and semantic

episodic memory

type of explicit memory; retention of info about where/when of one’s life; ex: what color was your childhood room?

semantic memory

type of explicit memory; knowledge about the world, including fields of expertise; general academic/everyday knowledge; meaning of words, etc.

source memory

ability to remember where something was learned/who it came from

prospective memory

remembering to do something in the future

childhood/adolescent memory

explicit/episodic memories of personal events; new memory strategies (chunking to remember phone numbers).

knowledge expands about things that you like

meta memory and metacognition

adult memory

peak of memory; tend to develop expertise in an area; organized knowledge base

as you age, you lose info faster and sooner that is about you and your lived experiences; overall decline in autobiographical memory

infantile amnesia

young infants’ conscious memories are short lived (hard to study)

why do we only remember certain things?

personal significance, distinctiveness, emotional intensity, and life phase of event (older people recalling 20s and 30s because of their life significance)

what is thinking?

manipulating and transforming info in memory to reason, reflect, think critically, evaluate ideas, solve problems, and make decisions; happens primarily in frontal lobe

executive functioning

umbrella concept for higher-level cognitive processes linked to development in the prefrontal cortex; managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and self-control

thinking in babies

concepts form at 3-4 months; perceptual categorization

thoughts narrow and specify

thinking in childhood

potential gendered interests (nature/nurture); increase in executive function

inhibition, cognitive flexibility, delayed gratification, etc.

thinking in adolescence/adults

executive function is imperative (driving, getting a job, etc.); hot (emotions) vs. cool (logic)

thinking in old age

growth, maintenance, regulation of loss; decrease in executive function

decision making may decline as memory changes; context matters, but plasticity still exists

use it or lose it!

health and thinking/cognition is intertwined

critical thinking

thinking reflectively and productively, and evaluating evidence

metacognition**

thinking about thinking and knowing about knowing; thinking and knowing when and where to use particular strategies for learning/solving problems; involves executive function, such as planning, evaluation, and self-regulation

metamemory

knowledge about memory, such as knowing that recognition tests are easier than recall tests.

Encompasses knowledge about your own memory, such as knowing if you have studied enough for an exam

convergent thinking

thinking that produces one correct answer; kind of thinking required on conventional intelligence tests

divergent thinking

thinking that produces many answers to the same question; characteristic of creativity

social cognition

processes involved in understanding the world around us, especially how we think and reason about others

theory of mind

ability to understand your unique experience compared to others

false belief tasks

a child’s understanding that a person has a false belief that contradicts reality