HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1 PSYCHOLOGY 3050: Information Processing Theory Ch'5 1

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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1PSYCHOLOGY 3050Information
Processing Theory Ch.5 (1)
Dr. Jamie Drover SN-3078, 737-8383 e-mail
jrdrover_at_mun.ca Winter Semester, 2009
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Information Processing Approach

• Humans are information-processing systems much
  like computers.
• We have hardware and software.
• The major perspective in cognitive development.
• The mind/brain does not work like a computers.
• Yet the concepts and terminology of the computer
  have been applied to cognition.

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Assumptions of Information Processing

• People process information.
• Mentally acting on info to know it.
• Act on external stimuli
• Act on internal stimuli
• Actions may be referred to as operations,
  procedures, processes, strategies.
• Making sense of input.

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Limited Capacity

• We can only deal with a certain amount of info at
  a time.
• If too many operations are added, it will
  interfere with the execution of other operations.
• Cognition is domain-general.
• They rely on the same pool of mental resources.

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The Information Processing System

• Information moves through a system or pathway.
• Depicted by flow charts.
• Input must go through this system of stores in
  serial fashion.
• Based on the Atkinson Shiffrin Model (1968).

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The Information Processing System
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Representation of Knowledge

• Information in the long-term store can be
  represented in two ways (Tulving, 1985).
• Declarative memory facts and events. Two types.
• Episodic memory memory for episodes (explicit).
• Semantic memory knowledge of language, rules,
  concepts, facts, and events.

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Representation of Knowledge

• Nondeclarative/Procedural Memory Knowledge of
  procedures that are unconscious.
• Can include familiar routines.
• AKA implicit memory as it is unavailable to
  conscious awareness.
• Can only be assessed indirectly.
• Different brain areas may be responsible for
  different memory types.
• Domain-specific

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Automatic and Effortful Processes

• Automatic Processes require none of the
  short-term stores limited capacity.
• Occur without intention, dont interfere with
  other processes, dont improve with practice, not
  influenced by individual differences in
  intelligence.
• E.g., Frequency of occurrence judgments.

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Automatic and Effortful Processes

• Effortful Processes require the use of mental
  resources for their successful completion.
• Available to consciousness, interfere with other
  processes, improve with practice, influenced by
  individual differences.
• May be reflected by glucose consumption.
• Executive Functions the processes involved in
  planning and monitoring what we attend to and
  what we do with the input.

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Automatic and Effortful Processes

• Involves such aspects planning a course of
  action, executing strategies, monitoring ones
  progress toward a goal.
• May be mediated by the prefrontal cortex.
• Damage leads to disorders in decision making.
• Development is associated with age-related
  problem solving improvements.
• Metacognition knowledge of ones cognitive
  abilities and processes relating to thinking.

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Development of the Short-Term Store

• Usually assessed with tests of memory span.
• Unrelated items that can be recalled in order.
• Digit span improves with age.
• Span of apprehension has been tested.
• Number of items that can be kept in mind at any
  one time.
• Amount of information people can attend to at any
  one time

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Development of the Short-Term Store

• Can be measured while one is playing computer
  games and hears number presented over headphones.
• Told to ignore numbers. Later recall numbers.
• Apprehension span increases with age.
• A detailed knowledge base in a particular area
  facilitates memory for that information.
• Eg. Chess experts.

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Chi (1978) chess experts versus novices
So organized knowledge facilitates recall from
STM
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Last Class

• Information Processing Like computers
• Process information
• Limited Capacity
• Information moves through stores
• Two types of knowledge
• Declarative Episodic and Semantic
• Nondeclarative/Procedural
• Automatic Processes
• Effortful Processes
• Development of the Short-term store
• Digit span, apprehension span
• Detailed knowledge base facilitates memory

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Development of the Short-Term Store

• This may be due to use of strategies.
• Working Memory involves storage of memory and
  the capacity to transform information in the
  short-term system.
• STM is just storage.

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The Articulatory Loop

• Baddely and Hitch (1974) stated that working
  memory contained a central executive that stores
  information.
• Also, two temporary systems.
• Articulatory Loop encodes verbal information.
  Verbal information may be rehearsed here.
• Visuo-Spatial Sketch Pad encodes visual
  information.

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The Articulatory Loop

• Age differences in verbal memory span are caused
  by developmental changes in the articulatory
  loop.
• Verbal or phonological information is stored in
  the articulatory loop.
• Rehearsal of information takes place here.
• As we get older, the rate of rehearsal in the
  articulatory loop increases.
• We rehearse more information.
• We remember more information.

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Baddeleys Model speech rate and memory span
linearly related
High Low
Memory Span
Low
High
Rate of Speech (items/sec)
Short words Older kids Fast talkers
Causes of Speech rate differences
Long words

Young kids Slow talkers
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The Articulatory Loop

• Speed of information processing is important.
• Speed of articulation is important.
• Familiarity with the information is also
  critical.
• Speed of processing is important to cognitive
  development in general.

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Speed of Processing

• Young children require more time and use more of
  their limited capacity to execute cognitive
  processes.
• The results of these limitations are seen on
  several memory tasks.
• Constraints on time and resources/capacity
  translate into poorer performance on WM tasks.

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Speed of Processing

• Kail (1991 1997)
• Showed that general developmental changes in
  processing speed are similar across different
  tasks
• Participants aged 6 to 21 yr
• Series of reaction time (RT) tasks
• RT is the time it takes to make a response
• Assumption in controlled conditions is that
  longer RT means more thinking
• Measure of processing load

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Speed of Processing

• Tasks varied in cognitive requirements,
  difficulty
• Mental rotation
• Memory search
• Name retrieval
• Mental addition
• Visual search
• Pattern of response across the varied tasks was
  the same across age faster RT increased speed

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Kail (1991) Speed of Processing
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Speed of Processing

• Speed and efficiency of processing appear to
  explain these results.
• Knowledge also leads to developmental and
  individual differences.
• Chess experts.
• Familiar information is processed more quickly.
• Children are unfamiliar with much of what they
  encounter.

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Speed of Processing

• Brain maturation (e.g., myelin neural speed)
  accounts for this in part.

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Capacity and Cognitive Development

• Changes in development appear to be related to
  changes in information-processing ability.
• Pascual-Leone (1970) thought the Piagetian stages
  reflected changes in memory capacity.
• M-space number of items that can be held in STM
• M a k
• a constant k improves with age.
• Increments in k represent transitions between
  Piagets stages.

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Piagetian Stages and Change in Capacity

• M space can be assessed by working memory tasks.
• The number of separate concepts a child can
  manipulate simultaneously is limited by M-space.
• The increase in problem-solving when advancing in
  stages involves a concomitant increase in M.
• Specifically due to increases in k.

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Piagetian Stages and Change in Capacity

• k the amount of capacity to deal with
  peripheral aspects of the task.
• Instructions, strategies
• We can coordinate more schemes as we develop.
• This may explain how we are able to handle tasks
  such as conservation.