CHDV 343

Beyond Piaget:Information Processing

Theories

Basic Points of Departure

Cognitive Development in terms of the development of mental structures:

(i) The acquisition of mental operations

(ii) Mental schemes and the concept of Equilibration

Cognitive Development in terms of distinct qualitative changes of mental functioning.

(i) A stage theory(ii) Structural

Transformations: Development involves changes in the organization of thought.

INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORIES

(i)Acquisition of knowledge: Memory and Attention mechanisms

(ii) Repetition (iii) Practice (iv) Efficiency

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES QUANTITATIVE CHANGES AND IS CONTINUOUS

THE CHILD BECOMES INCREASINGLY MORE EFFICIENT IN PROCESSING INFORMATION:

The Structural Characteristics of IPS

SENSORY MEMORY = The ability to briefly retain a large amount of information.

WORKING MEMORY= The ability to combine sensory memory to long term memory. Increases with age.

LONG TERM MEMORY = No limits.

Basic Assumptions OF IPS Model

1. Our mind is like a computer. Thinking is information Processing.

2. To study the change mechanisms/strategies that are involved in our thinking.

3. Change is produced by the individual’s continuous self-modification of existing strategies.

Information Processing Theories of Development

Two characteristics of mental functioning.

1. Our thinking is limited

(selective attention).

2. Our thinking is flexible and adaptable (several modalities are used to store sense information).

THE INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM

The Elements of our Computer

Sensory Memory = Duration: 1-3 seconds

Attention : Selective Attention

Difficulties in focusing or ignoring competing stimuli

The process of Automatization

Perception Attending a stimulus and assigning meaning to it.

Gestalt Rules Bottom-Up Processing Top-Down Processing

WORKING MEMORY

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE : Initiates control and decision processes

Phonological Loop

Short term buffer Immediate recall Efficient Strategy:

Repetition

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Visual Imagery/ Spatial tasks

E.g. If you rotate a p 180 degrees, do you get a b or a d?

WORKING MEMORY5-20 seconds

Working Memory

Rehearsal

Interference Decay

Forgetting

THE GOAL OF TEACHING :

MAINTENANCE /

ELABORATIVE REHEARSALEFFICIENT STRATEGIES FOR STORING : Chunking, mnemonics, etc.

Long Term Memory

Retrieval: Organizing, elaborating,

using context.

DIFFICULTIES AT ANY STEP WILL AFFECT PERFORMANCE

ATTENTION

ENCODING

EFFICIENT STRATEGIES

Age related differences in ATTENTION SPANS

Relating short term information to long term information

Differences in Knowledge base and organizational skills

MEMORY : The Development of Specific memory strategies help cognitive performance

1. It is easier to remember the numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 than 13, 5, 9,7,1, 8. (organizational “chunks” of knowledge base).

2. It is easier to remember the letters i,d,r,b when you form the word “bird”.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

REFERS TO CONTINUOUS CHANGES IN COLLECTING INFORMATION-ENCODING INFORMATION-AND RETRIEVING INFORMATION

ATTENTION-MEMORY- PRODUCTION

SOME EXAMPLES

ENCODING PROBLEMS

ATTENTION SPAN (destructions/boredom)

Developmental differences, individual differences.

PERCEPTION (Zinchenko, 1983)

INFORMATION ONE STORES AND MANIPULATES

(Klahr, 1985)

TEACHING IMPLICATIONS OF IPS

TO STRENGTHEN THOSE SKILLS NECESSARY FOR ADVANCED INTELLECTUAL PERFORMANCE.

These skills refer to the child’s increased ability to attend, to successfully store and to retrieve information from long-term memory.

 

IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT

MIND –COMPUTER METAPHOR

PERFORMANCE IMPROVES BECAUSE OF THE GRADUAL MATURATION OF THE “HARDWARE” AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE EFFECTIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING STRATEGIES OF THE “SOFTWARE”

IMPLICATIONS

GRADUAL DEVELOPMENTS THE ACQUISITION OF SKILLS THAT ARE NEEDED FOR COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES DUE TO PRACTICE-AUTOMATIZATION-EXPERIENCE