Cognition - information processing

Cognitive Development: An Information Processing Perspective

Parts of the Information Processing System

  1. Sensory Register/Memory

    • The first step in the information processing system.
    • Stores stimuli briefly in its original form for processing.

  2. Working (or Short-Term) Memory

    • Holds and processes information being manipulated, encoded, or retrieved.
    • Responsible for maintaining and processing information in cognitive tasks.

  3. Long-Term Memory

    • An unlimited store that holds information indefinitely.
    • Information is retrieved for manipulation in working memory.
    • (Kuther, 2023)

The Store Model of Information Processing

  • Input: Stimulus
  • Sensory Register: Represents sights and sounds, storing them briefly.
  • Attention: Coordinates and focuses on relevant information.
  • Working Memory: Holds a limited amount of information for memory and problem-solving.
  • Long-Term Memory: Stores information permanently.
  • Central Executive:
    • Conscious part of the mind.
    • Coordinates incoming information with existing knowledge.
    • Controls attention and monitors strategies.
  • Control Processes: Execute strategies related to attention, memory, and problem-solving.

Development of Information Processing

  • Increases observed in:
    1. Capacity
    • Memory span
    • Processing speed
    1. Strategy Use (Berk, 2013, pp. 280-282)

Selective Attention

  • The ability to systematically deploy attention, focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractions (Kuther, 2023, p. 290).
  • Attention is a limited resource, making selective attention essential for focusing on what matters.
    • External Distractions
    • Internal Thoughts

Storing Information: Memory Strategies

  • Learned Procedures: Operate on and transform information, increasing retention in working memory and transferring to long-term memory (Berk, 2013, p. 292).
  • Rehearsal: Repeating information to aid memory.
  • Organization (Chunking): Grouping information into meaningful chunks.
  • Elaboration: Creating a relationship between distinct items or ideas by expressing them in one's own words or connecting them with existing knowledge (Brown et al., 2014).

Evidence of Short- and Long-Term Stores

  • Serial Position Effect: In memory tasks, people remember items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) better than those in the middle.

Retrieving Information: Recognition vs. Recall

  1. Recognition: Identifying a stimulus familiar from previous experiences;
    • Easier than recall.
  2. Recall: Identifying a previously encountered stimulus;
    • More challenging than recognition (Berk, 2013, pp. 294-295).

Important Aspects of the Memory Process: Reconstruction

  • Information is selected and interpreted during encoding, storage, or retrieval.
  • Can occur deliberately or due to “fuzzy trace” (Berk, 2013, pp. 295-296).

Memory Distortions

  1. Reconstruction: Interpreting experiences based on current knowledge.
  2. Imagination Inflation: Tendency to believe vividly imagined events really occurred.
  3. Suggestion: Question phrasing influences memory.
  4. Interference: Competing events disrupt memory retention.
  5. Fluency Illusion: Misinterpreting ease of reading as mastery of content.

Eyewitness Memory

  • Preschoolers’ testimony is less reliable than that of school-aged children due to:
    • Underdeveloped language skills
    • Desire to please
      d - Poorer source-monitoring
    • Bias toward specifics; less gist memory
    • Less skill with autobiographical narratives
    • Suggestibility (Berk, 2013, pp. 280-282).

Memory: Retrieving Information

  • Fuzzy Trace Theory: Proposes two types of encoding:
    1. Gist: Fuzzy version of information for reasoning.
    2. Verbatim: Exact version for recalling specifics.
    • Gist is easier to remember and requires less mental effort (Berk, 2013, p. 296).

Verbatim vs. Gist Memory

  • Mean Memory Scores:
    • Verbatim test: 0.9
    • Gist test: 0.8

Preschoolers vs. Second Graders (Berk, 2013, p. 296).

Types of Memory

  1. Episodic Memory: Memory for everyday experiences (Kuther, 2023, p. 672).
  2. Autobiographical Memory: Recollection of a specific event from the past (Kuther, 2023, p. 669).
  3. Scripts: Descriptive guidelines for understanding daily experiences.
  4. Semantic Memory: Taxonomically organized knowledge system that develops from episodic memory (Berk, 2013, p. 296).

Autobiographical Memory

  • Infantile Amnesia: The inability to recall events from before age 3 (Berk, 2013, p. 301).