Chapter Eight

Cognitive Development: Information Processing

Perspectives

Information Flow and the Multistore Model Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) developed a

multistore model of the information processing system. The first component is the sensory store (or sensory

register), in which stimuli are noticed and briefly available for further processing.

The second information processing store is the short-term store (STS). Here stimuli are retained for several seconds and operated on (also called working memory).

New information that is operated on while in the STS passes into the long-term store (LTS).

This is the vast, relatively permanent storehouse of information that includes your knowledge and impressions of the world.

The Information-Processing System

Environmental Input

Sensory Store

Short-term (“working”)

memory

Long-term memory

Responses

Executive control processes

Other Information-Processing Theories Similar theories propose that the mind like a

computer, and thought to be of limited capacity.

Also included in most information-processing models is a concept of executive control processes, or metacognition. These include processes by which we plan,

monitor, and control all phases of information processing.

Differences in Information-Processing Capacity STS (short-term store) is usually assessed using

memory span. Memory span refers to the number of rapidly presented and unrelated items that can be recalled in exact order.

Age differences in memory span are highly reliable. This differences, however, might represent differences in strategy use, rather than in age and capacity.

Differences in Information-Processing Capacity Cowan and his colleagues also discovered that

span of apprehension could measure STS capacity. The span of apprehension refers to the number of items people can keep in mind at one time.

Prior knowledge also effects memory. Knowledge base, how quickly children process information, also accounts for differences.

Strategies and Knowledge of Thinking Information processing often depends on

strategies, which are goal oriented operations used to help in task performance.

Frequently children have production deficiencies, in which children fail to produce a strategy on their own but can do so when instructed.

Strategies and Knowledge of Thinking Utilization deficiencies occur when children

experience little or no benefit from a new strategy. Sielger uses the adaptive strategy model to

explain how there are a variety of strategies which children can choose from at a given time, but one strategy usually wins and that’s the one they use. As children get older, more sophisticated strategies begin to win.

What children know about Thinking Implicit thinking refers unconscious thought,

which accounts for most of our thinking. Explicit thinking is conscious thinking that we

are aware of. Children’s understanding of what thinking is

increases over the preschool years. The are few developmental differences, however, that occur in implicit cognition during this time.

Fuzzy-Trace Theory: An Alternative View Proposed by Brainerd and Reyna, this theory

postulates that people encode experiences on a continuum from literal, verbatim traces to fuzzy, gistlike traces. A gist is a fuzzy representation of information that

preserves the central content but few precise details. Other alternatives to traditional information-

processing models emphasize the role of inhibition. Inhibition is the ability to prevent ourselves from

executing some cognitive or behavioral response.

Development of Attention With age, attention spans, the capacity for

sustaining attention to a particular activity, increase dramatically. This is thought to be a result of the increasing myelination of the central nervous system because reticular formation, the area of the brain responsible for attention regulation, is not fully myleniated until puberty.

Development of Attention Selective attention, the ability to focus on a given

task while ignoring distracters, develops with age. Planning of attention also develops with age.

ADHD is used to describe children who find it very difficult to sustain attention for an extended period of time. These children fail to develop planned attention strategies.

Memory: Retraining and Retrieving Information Strategic memory refers to the processes

involved as one consciously attempts to retain or retrieve information.

On the other hand, event memory refers to long-term memory for events. Autobiographical memory is memory for

important events that have happened to us.

Development of Memory Strategies Mnemonics are effortful techniques used to

improve memory, including rehearsal, organization, and elaboration. Rehearsal is a strategy for remembering that involves

repeating the items one is trying to retain. Semantic organization is another strategy that involves

grouping or classifying stimuli into meaningful (or manageable) clusters that are easier to retain.

Elaboration involves adding something to (or creating meaningful links between) the bits of information one is trying to retain.

Retrieval Processes Retrieval is a class of strategies aimed at

getting information out of long-term memory. In free-recall, a recollection occurs that is not

prompted by specific cues. In cued-recall, a recollection is prompted by a

specific cue associated with the setting in which the recalled event originally occurred.

Metamemory Metamemory is an aspect of metacognition that is

defined by one’s knowledge about memory and memory processes. This increases with age and contributes to

developmental and individual differences in memory. Older children known more about memory processes,

and their greater metamemory allows them to select the most appropriate strategies for the task at hand and to carefully monitor their progress.

The Development of Event and Autobiographical Memory Event memory in general, and our memory for

personal experiences (or autobiographical memory) are rarely intentional as strategic memory is.

Although infants can remember events that happened earlier in time, most of us display infantile amnesia.

Early autobiographical memory is based on scripts. Even very young children organize their experiences in terms of scripts, which become more detailed with age.

Autobiographical Memories These memories improve dramatically during the preschool

years. Parents play a key role in the growth of autobiographical

memories by discussing past events, providing clues about what information is important, and helping children recall their experiences.

One aspect of autobiographical memory that has received much attention is age differences in eye witness memory and suggestibility.

The accuracy of children’s eyewitness memory increases with age.

Young children are more susceptible to suggestion than older children and are more likely to form false memories.

Problem Solving Problem solving involves having a goal,

obstacles to that goal, strategies for overcoming the obstacles, and an evaluation of the results.

Research by Zelazo and colleagues suggests that young children often fail to use a rule even though they can demonstrate knowledge of the rule.

Reasoning Reasoning is a special type of problem

solving, one that usually requires that one make an inference.

Analogical reasoning involves using something one knows already to help reason about something not known yet. Usha Goswami (1996) proposed the relational

primacy hypothesis, suggesting that analogical reasoning is available in infancy.

Factors that Affect Children’s Analogical Reasoning One important factor is knowledge.

Their knowledge, or familiarity, with the underlying relations used to make the analogy is significant.

Metacognition plays a role as well. A conscious awareness of the basis on which

one is solving the problem is integral.

Development of Number and Arithmetic Skills The ability to process quantitative

information is innate. Counting normally begins shortly after

children begin to talk. By age 4 ½ to 5, children have acquired the

principle of cardinality—the knowledge that the last word in a counting sequence represents the number of items in a set.

Early Arithmetic Strategies Children’s earliest arithmetic strategies are

based on counting, at first out loud, and often using props such as fingers.

At some point during the early grade-school years, children’s solutions to simple arithmetic problems become more covert. They no longer count objects on their fingers,

because they can perform arithmetic operations in their heads.

Cultural Influences on Mathematics Performance Unschooled children develop arithmetic strategies

that they apply quite skillfully to the practical problems they encounter.

East Asian youngsters typically outperform American children in certain academic subjects, most notably mathematics. This is a result of the structure of their languages and

instructional practices that aid them in retrieving math facts and acquiring computational skills.

Conclusions The information processing approach has been

criticized due the lack of attention it pays to neurological as well as sociocultural influences.

The information processing approach also fails to provide an integrative theory of children’s intelligence and shows a lack of understanding for cognitive diversity.

Still the approach has greatly advanced our understanding of children’s intellectual growth.