Chapter 8: Information Processing

Children as Active Learners

• Children are inherently active, inquisitive, and sense-making beings.
• Their cognitive activities involve how they encode, store, and retrieve information.

Cognitive Development

• Cognitive development is characterized by gradual increases in processing speed and capacity.
• Changes are attributed to:
  • Neurological development.
  • Life experiences that enhance learning and memory.

Types of Attention

• Sustained Attention: The ability to focus on a task for a continued period.
• Divided Attention: Managing multiple tasks simultaneously (also known as joint or shared attention).
• Selective Attention: Focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others.
• Executive Attention: Involves higher-level cognitive processing such as planning and decision making.

Attention in Infants

• Requires a quiet, awake, and alert state to engage.
• Strongly influenced by novelty in the environment.
• Sustained attention spans are limited (only a few seconds) but improve as infants grow, particularly by the second year.
• The gradual emergence of joint attention around 7 months significantly aids in language development and self-regulation.

Attention in Preschoolers and School-aged Children

• Sustained Attention: Improvements occur as children mature, allowing longer focus durations.
• Divided Attention: Children start managing more than one activity but may still struggle with efficiency.
• Selective Attention: Defining tasks like the Dimensional Card Sort, where children categorize based on color or shape.
• Executive Attention: Assessed through strategies that require planning and mental flexibility, as illustrated in various studies (e.g., Miniature Zoo task).

Memory in Infants

• Recognition Memory: Ability to recognize previously encountered stimuli.
• Recall Memory: Begins around 6 months; infants can recall information, becoming less context-dependent by 9 months.

Memory in Preschoolers and School-aged Children

• Recognition Memory: Continues to develop and enhance.
• Recall Memory: Improves with age, primarily due to:
  • Neurological developments that support memory functions.
  • An expanding knowledge base that aids memory recall.
  • The introduction and use of memory strategies.

Memory Strategies

• Organization: Grouping information to aid recall.
• Rehearsal: Repeating information to enhance retention.
• Elaboration: Connecting new information to existing knowledge to improve memory.

Progression of Strategy Use

• Production Deficiency: Child does not produce the strategies that help memory.
• Control Deficiency: Child produces the strategy but does not apply it effectively.
• Utilization Deficiency: Child applies strategies, but it does not lead to improved memory.
• Effective Use: Child effectively utilizes strategies for optimal memory performance.

Theory of Mind and Metacognition

• Theory of Mind: Awareness of one’s own and others’ mental processes and the ability to understand that these processes can be both accurate and inaccurate.
• By age 5 or 6, critical understandings emerge:
  • Familiar items are easier to remember.
  • Short lists are easier to memorize compared to longer ones.
  • Gist-based remembering is favored.
  • Recognition memory is generally easier than recall memory.
  • There is an increased likelihood of forgetting over time.
  • Multiple interpretations of information are understood.
  • Children begin to select memory strategies based on their awareness of these principles.