Background to the Information Processing Approach

Modern psychology moves away from behaviourism
Thinks of the mind as a computer that processes information
Development allows us to overcome processing limitations

Domain general

Global knowledge structure
Knowledge internalised from experience
Interdependent

Domain specific

Independent
Specialised knowledge structures

Structure:

Sensory memory
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Central executive

Mechanisms of change

Mind = limitation of a child

Processes = mechanisms to overcome limitations

IPS focuses on changes in performance

Encoding

1st steps of memory creation
Brain 'encode' sensory inputs
Visual, acoustic, semantic, tactile, elaborative, and organisational encoding
We can improve our encoding ability by imagination, association, location, humor, etc.

Strategy formation

Hippocampus and frontal cortex- encoded information and previous knowledge is assessed
Construction of strategy - solution for specific task/problem etc.

Generalisation

ability to apply formed strategies to other contexts
Solutions have multiple applications
Understand solution applicability

Automatisation

Making strategy automatic
More effective
Attention required lessons example: driving a car, playing guitar

Information processing theories of Cognitive Development

Case's Neo-Piagetian Theory

Arose from criticism of Piaget's cognitive development
Doesn't fully explain why development from stage to stage occurs
Ignores individual differences of speed progression through stages of development
Considers social-cognition; culture and interaction influence development
Rather than stages, development is more like a staircase.

Case's Executive Control

Sensorimotor

- 1 ti 18 months, perceptions and actions

Inter-relational

- 18 months to 5 years, mental representation of actual objects

Dimensional

- 5 to 11 years, relation between preexisting and new knowledge

Vectorial

- 11 to 19 years, more complex understandings

Case's Neo-Piagetian Perspective

- Children are unable to attend to and process all the relevant information for a task, because there are limits in their processing capacity.

Working memory includes operating space + storage space

- To be more efficient, the proportion taken up by processing basic operations must be reduced

- Biological constraints play a part

- Working memory is a key predictor for many aspects of learning

- Contrasts with Piaget in terms of domain-specificity

SIegler's theory of Strategy choice

Evolutionary perspective on cognition
Generates a variety of strategies wherein selected strategies survive and others die off
Cognitive development increases sophisticated problem solving
Observed children's performance across domains: Maths, conservation, memory span, telling time, spelling, etc.

Piaget's Balance Beam strategy

children were shown a beam with weights on either side, and were asked which way it will tip if wedge is removed
Demonstrates different stages of development:
Age 6 and under cannot understand/comprehend this
Age 7 children have general understanding/some success
Precise understanding comes later

SIegler's Balance Beam Strategies

Number of weights on each side only
Distance from center only if number of weights equal
Distaance from center and number considered
Multiply number of weights on peg by peg's ordinal distance from fulcrum

Findings:

Siegler found that 5 year olds initially used just Strategy 1
After training and online feedback, progressed to Strategy 2/3

Kali's processing speed

Age is a central factor underlying cognitive development, increasing cognitive processing speed
Increase in speed to perform tasks could be due to:
More efficient strategies
Biologically determined processing speed differences

Global processing speed

Children are consistently slower than adults
Due to domain general change rahter than domain specfic change
Global processing increases with age and processing speed
Processing is constrained across full range of cognitive tasks

What develops?

Attention

Sustained attention: ability to maintain concentration
Selective attention: ability to focus on relevant part of task and inhibit distractors
Adaptable attention: ability to switch perspectives; zoom in and out of attentional focus

Sustained attention development

Increases sharply betewen 2 and 3.5 years
Frontal lobe growth
More complex play goals
Adult scaffolding

Cognitive Inhibition

Ability to control distracting stimuli:
Internal - thoughts
External - distractions
Improves from infancy onwards; gains on complex tasks from middle childhood to adolescence

Miller et al. 1986 - Selective attention development

Strategies emerge and are refined during 4 phases:

1. Production deficiency (preschool): Fail to produce effective strategies

2. Control deficiency (Age 5): Fail to control, or execute strategies efficiently

3. Utilization deficiency (Age 6-7): Execute strategies efficiently but performance does not improve significantly

4. Effective strategy use (Age 8-9)

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Inattention
Impulsivity
Excessive motor activity
Results in social and academic problems

Memory

Control processes include rehearsal, organisation, semantic elaboration, allocation of study time

Rehearsal: few 5 yr olds, most 10 year olds will rehearse, younger children can be taught to rehearse and their memory improves

Elaboration: older children do more to make information semantically meaningful

Recognition and recall

Noticing that a stimulus is identical or similar to one previously experienced
Easier than recall
Habituation studies show that infants are good at recognition memory
The abilitiy to generate a mental representation of an absent stimulus is more difficult than recognition (recall)
2 year olds can recall 1-2 items while 4 year olds can only recall 3 or 4 items

Construcitve processing

Memory is not just a passive process; we select and interpret information as it is encoded, stored, or retrieved
can happen deliberately or due to automatic formation of 'fuzzy trace'

Verbatim vs. Gist Memory

Gist traces - fuzzy representations of a past event (fuzzy trace theory) or its bottom-line meaning

Verbatim traces - detailed representations of a past events

Knowledge and memory

Knowledge comes first
Previously believed knowledge reflected cognition changes (cognitive development = knowledge)
Now knowledge changes are driving force, not the result
Knowledge = cognitive development

Autobiographical memory

Long-lasting representations of one-time events
Personal meaning
Infantile amnesia - inability to recall events before the age of 3
Habituation = memory
Verbal skills underlie memory, memory is the anchor of self-concept
Parents help develop narrative through elaboration and repetition
Securely attached children have more robust autobiographical memory
Cultural differences: Western children have better autobiographical memory than Asian children, because collectivist values de-emphasise talking about self

Eyewitness memory

Preschoolers' testimony is less reliable than school-age children's
Less-developed language skills
Desire to please
Poorer source-monitoring
Bias towards specifics; less gist memory
Less skill with autobiographical narratives - may leave out details
Suggestibility

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