Cognitive Development: Cognitive Processing Perspective Competing approach to Piaget, less attention...

Cognitive Development:

Cognitive Processing Perspective

Competing approach to Piaget, less attention paid to Developmental

issues

From: Steyvers, M., & Tenenbaum, J. (2005). Cognitive Science, 29(1), 41-78.

Input• Observed

Environment• Encoding

Manipulation• “Mind”• Recode,

decode, store

Output•Observed Actions•Retrieve, response

Computer analogy

A Model of the Human Information Processing System (Figure 7-1)

Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis OrmrodChild Development and Education, third edition

Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

All rights reserved.

Key Ideas in IPT• Information Processing Theory – focuses on the

specific ways in which people think about (“process”) the information they receive

• Input from the environment provides the raw material for cognitive processing– Sensory register – component of memory that holds incoming

information in an unanalyzed from for a very brief time (2-3 seconds or less)

• Human memory includes two storage mechanisms in addition to sensory register– Working memory – component of memory that enables people

to actively think about and process a small amount of information

– Long- term memory – component of memory that holds knowledge and skills for a relatively long period of time




Key Ideas in IPT (cont’d)• Attention is essential to the learning process• A variety of cognitive processes are involved in

moving information from working memory to LTM

• People control how they process information– Central executive – component of the human

information processing system that oversees the flow of information throughout the system

• Cognitive development involves the gradual changes in various components of the IP system




A. Sensory Register detects visual, auditory, haptic (touch), smell, taste, temperature, pain, body position information

• filters out much of the world's potential information

• limited capacity

• seconds before decay

• unconscious

B. Working memory

• Encoding: recasts sensory information into meaningful representations suitable for manipulation, using strategies like

– rehearsal– organization– elaboration

• Limited in capacity

• decays quickly, 15 to 30 seconds, if not processed further

Encoding/Learning Strategies

– Rehearsal – attempting to learn something by repeating it over and over; repetition

– Organization – attempting to learn something by identifying relationships among pieces of information as a way of categorizing them

– Elaboration – embellishing on new information based on what you already know (using prior knowledge)

• Environmental factors, e.g., culture, affect the kinds of strategies that children develop– Children are more likely to use effective learning

strategies when teachers and other adults encourage their use, or when it is culturally meaningful




C. Long-Term Memory (LTM)• The ability to remember information in LTM appears very

early and improves with age• Children increasingly have conscious awareness of the

past– Infantile amnesia – general inability to recall past events during

the early years of life• The amount of knowledge stored in LTM increases many

times over– Knowledge base – one’s knowledge about specific topics and the

world in general• Children’s knowledge about the world becomes

increasingly integrated– Schemas – tightly integrated set of ideas about a specific object or

situation– Scripts – schema that involves a predictable sequence of events

related to a common activity• Children’s growing knowledge base facilitates learning




Thinking and Reasoning • Thought increasingly makes use of symbols

– Symbols – mental entity that represents an external object or event, often without reflecting its perceptual and behavioral qualities

• Logical thinking abilities improve with age– Some logical thinking is evident in infancy– Perceive cause and effect relationships as young

as 6 months old– Reasoning is still influenced by personal motives and biases

• Gestures – Sometimes foreshadow the emergence of more sophisticated

thinking and reasoning (e.g., Conservation task)– Appear to provide a way for children to experiment with cognitive

ideas




D. Central Executive

Directs flow of information; coordinates influence of LTM onto STM, monitors effectiveness of strategies (metacognition)

1. Attention

2. Automatization

3. Conceptually-driven processes

• 4. How knowledge is represented (depth of processing, use of control processes)

Metacognitive Awareness• Metacognitive awareness – extent to which one is able

to reflect upon the nature of one’s own thinking processes– Awareness of the existence of thought (age 3)– Awareness about one’s own thought processes

• Although preschoolers have the words know, remember, and forget in their vocabulary, they do not fully grasp these concepts until elementary and secondary school years

– Awareness of limitations of memory• Children are overly optimistic about memory• Optimism of memory abilities is beneficial for cognitive development

– Knowledge about effective learning and memory strategies• Children learn more effective memory strategies and how to apply

them as they get older• Repetition and elaboration are increasingly understood and used




Greta, Age 4 “This race car won the Bronze medal before and now he is dreaming of winning the Gold or Silver medal”

Greta, Age 4“This pirate is laughing and saying that he has a thousand dollars for anyone who can catch him”

Social Construction of Memory

• Adults help children reconstruct events that the two of them previously shared and stored in their LTMs

• Benefits of talking about past events– Children are more likely to remember events if they talk about it– Children learn the important things to remember– Children learn the appropriate values for their culture– Children learn to use a narrative structure for story telling

• Downside to talking about memories– Children are susceptible to leading questions




• Co-regulated learning – process through which an adult and child share responsibility for directing various aspects of a child’s learning

• Community of Learners (Bruner, Brown & Campione)– Creating a school environment where children learn

to think deeply about serious matters

Collaborative Learning Blend of social constructivism and information

processing approach

Key learning principles for a Community of Learners (Meece, Child & Adolescent Development for Educators,

2002, p. 195) • Agency Both teachers and learners

routinely engage in the search for meaning and understanding

• Collaboration Both teachers and students must share in developing and sustaining the community of learning. Teachers help guide students to deeper levels of understanding, but learning is a shared and joint activity; also collaboration among students

• Reflection The classroom is designed to stimulate active exchange of ideas and discourse; discussion, critique, self monitoring of comprehension

• Deep discipline inquiry Students engage in disciplined inquiry on a central theme that can sustain in-depth research over time (research, evidence, seeking expert advice, sharing results

Cognitive Development: Cognitive Processing Perspective Competing approach to Piaget, less attention...

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