Learning Theories Information Processing Theory

Running head: LEARNING THEORIES 1

Learning Theories: Information Processing Theory

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LEARNING THEORIES 2

Learning Theories: Information Processing Theory

Understanding Information Processing Theory

Information processing theory entails one of the most significant areas of cognition

scholars and professionals study. It constitutes three major components namely: sensory

memory, working memory and long-term memory (McLeod, 2008; Block, 2014). The sensory

memory serves to assist an individual in screening the incoming information. In the human

spectrum, this process implies that a person sense, or perceives something from the surrounding

setting and makes a decision whether to attend to is or assume it. Here, one may ask a couple of

questions such as, “Is it important?” Or “Is it stimulating?” Or “Is it perceivable?” Besides that,

the working memory assists an individual to manipulate and store smaller and larger bits of

information. Information is momentarily kept in the working or short-term memory. Research

findings reveal that humans can hold about seven “chunks” of information at a given one

moment in the short-term memory. Consequently, is the temporarily stored data fail to be

rehearsed or otherwise actively applied, there are high chances that it will be lost (Miller, 2011).

After that, humans encode and store information into their long-term memory. Encoding

happens while information is held in the working memory specifically by linking prevailing

knowledge (or schemas) (Lindsay & Norman, 2013). Nonetheless, well-organized information

tends to be easily encoded since it is “filed” in a relatively easier findable location (Sarason,

Pierce, & Sarason, 2014). It happens during the early process of a stimuli or experience.

Maturation and experience impact this process. On the basis of maturation, the capacity of an

adult for a short-term memory of 5 +2 figures may exceed two figures lower for young people

aged five years and 1 number lower for those aged 9 (Sarason, Pierce, & Sarason, 2014).

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The process of structuring and organizing information take place as a person manipulates

and stores information. Maturation and experience make the person’s ability to change over time

(McLeod, 2008). When people are given information, they are asked to recall, children do not

rehearse information to help them remember it. As they enroll in school, they start to develop

and learn different techniques (Lesgold, 2013). At the beginning, they use these strategies when

someone prompts them, but as they become competent, they begin to apply them more

frequently and spontaneously (Lesgold, 2013). A child develops the significant ability to

organize information. The child’s ability to recognize bears significant influence on his ability to

organize information (BRUNER, 2011). The long-term memory functions as a permanent

repository that stores all manner of information that can be accessed and retrieved at a later

period. This process enables humans to continually develop their knowledge base. , and conduct

visual-spatial functions.

Major Theorists within the Theory

The study of human memory dates back 2000 years ago. For instance, Aristotle attempted

to understand human memory by comparing the human mind to a blank slate. Also, through

Cognitive Psychology, Ulric Neisser integrated studies that concerned pattern recognition,

perception, and attention, remembering and problem-solving. Furthermore, James J. and Eleanor

J. Gibson, George Miller, Eugine Galanter, and others have made a notable input to the theory by

coining the theory of direct perception. Besides that, the belief that memory is organized into

various structures is linked to the ideas of Sir Frederick Bartlett who proposed that memory tends

to be inaccurate and that the accuracy of memory is systematic. The systematic variation in the

traditional thought paved the way for the scientific study of inaccuracy, and this belief has

brought about a new mode of thought on memory (Crawford & Krebs, 2013). Additionally,

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Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domain model that is very popular among

instructional professionals. Also, Robert Sternberg made notable contributions to this story.

Specifically, he proposed a three-level perspective of intelligence that comprises meta-

components, performance components and knowledge-acquisition element (Crawford & Krebs,

2013).

Basic Assumptions of the Information Processing Theory

There are a number of basic assumptions about the information processing theory

(Lindsay & Norman, 2013; McLeod, 2008). First, it holds that information presented by the

environment is constantly manipulated by a series of processing systems such as attentions,

perception, recognition, recall, and short-term memory, among others. Second, the system

modifies the nature of collected information in “systematic” fashions. Third, the studies that

delve into the discipline of information processing attempts to determine the kind of process and

brain structures that underlie cognitive performance. Finally, the human information processing

system resembles that in computers. In fact, cognitive psychologists often perceive the individual

as a processor of information analogous to how a computer receives information and applies a

particular program to produce an output. On the same note, Ruiji (2012) argue that human mind

is comparable to a computer and suggest that humans too are information manipulators and that

it is important to analyze the internal cognitive processes that exist between the stimuli (in one’s

environment) and the response he makes.

How Lessons and Instructional Activities can be differentiated to incorporate the theory,

There are numerous ways through which a teacher can help their students to store and

retrieve the information they learn more effectively. First, he can work to sustain the learners’

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attention during instructional sessions. This strategy may involve providing breaks for a couple

of minutes. Students tend to wane after of about 15 minutes. Therefore, a teacher can attempt to

plan class intervals of about twenty minutes, after which he should allow them to take a break.

Nonetheless, this break does not imply an allowance for brainstorming, rather a simple break for

one activity before starting another. For instance, the instructor may demonstrate the concept by

use of visual aids or he may have the learners hold a deliberative forum on the concept with one

another for a short period. Ruiji (2012) holds that taking breaks serves to revitalize the learners’

attention.

Besides that, the instructor should maintain the students’ activeness during the

instruction. Instead of only listening to the information being, other alternatives can assist

students to comprehend the information actively (Ruiji, 2012). For instance, the teacher might

hold a discussion in which he coaches the learners as they negotiate through the understanding.

Also, he might engage them to seek the solution to the challenge by themselves. These and many

other strategies might help boost learners’ activeness during learning processes. Active learners

naturally tend to be more attentive thus facilitating information processing as well as memory

(Sarason Pierce & Sarason, 2014).

Furthermore, he may explicitly draw the students’ attention to the most significant

concepts. For instance, by simply making it clear that such an issue is more important thus need

to be understood well will draw their attention closer to the instruction process. Also, by issuing

a warning such as, “This will appear on the forthcoming test,” will certainly harness learners’

attention and confers an extrinsic motivation orientation to learning as opposed to intrinsically

motivated mastery orientation (BRUNER, 2013). On the same note, Lesgold (2013) holds that it

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is critical to stress the information’s significance due to the value of the knowledge to the

learner.

Moreover, the instructor needs to engage the working memory of the individual students.

This might involve offering customized opportunities for different learners to actively cope with

the course of information. Different learning contexts or environments (such as indoor and

outdoor class, or online) call for different strategies that can help individuals to think more

deeply about the information being passed across (Kitajim & Lyman-Hager, 2013).

Also, this can be supplemented by encouraging the students to organize their thoughts.

This is a tactic that can both engage the students to think about the instructional materials and

assist them in organizing them. For example, the facilitator may provide an overview of the

instruction activity by putting up an outline of the learning activity for the day or lesson. From

this point, he may introduce more concepts as he goes. However, this should be carried out in an

informal fashion, for example, by adapting visual aids (such as circles, lines, tables, boxes,

computer clips) in information organization thus helping them comprehend the connections

among concepts (Kitajim & Lyman-Hager, 2013). After that, he may now single out the

relationship between new information and existing information learners already know (McLeod,

2008). This practice will shade more light on how new concepts fits into the network of concepts

the individuals are already familiar.

Impact on Classroom Management and Student Learning

The information processing theory employs a computer-based model to describe student

learning. In a nutshell, learners receive information; they process it, and then store it and later

retrieve it for various purposes within the classroom context (McLeod, 2013). Although this

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theory presents an oversimplification of learning with regard to learning in humans, it provides a

concrete overview of and simile by applying the computer model.

Teachers are mandated to ensure students manipulate new information in ways they can

retain it more quickly (Ruiji, 2012). This proposition is a prerequisite for the occurrence of active

learning. However, for instructors to achieve this, they need to elaborate and connect new

information they acquire to the previously learned memory. Researchers assert that higher

intensity and depth of information processing results in a more complex connection between

existing memory structures and the new information that students access (Crawford & Krebs,

2013). Therefore, instructors must present meaningful learning material and the whole

instruction to pupils in a fashion that enable them to access quickly and link new material and

information with previous knowledge and experiences. Furthermore, instructors need to

acknowledge the diverse needs and capabilities of different pupils concerning information

processing and memory and adapt these unique cases to the curriculum.

In the same line of thought, there are several ways in which this theory can be put in

practice in an instructional setting. Students tend to continually learn and apply memory process

to store information the instructor conveys to the class (Lesgold, 2013). At the same time, they

also actively retrieve the information necessary for the given lesson. Therefore, Information

Processing enables learners to further scale their respective skills and comprehend the curriculum

offered. In particular, teachers can adopt this theory to encourage their pupils to practice

information processing skills by testing their focusing/attention, information collection, recalling

as well as organizing skills. Practicing focusing skills entails the determination of certain

situations and coming up with appropriate strategies for addressing them. Besides that, applying

information collecting skills involves the gathering of information that surrounds a given

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scenario and developing questions that will help clarify or shade more light on it. Remembering

skills encompass encoding and recalling of existing information. These two processes are

directly connected to mnemonics (Crawford & Krebs, 2013). Besides that, organizing skills fall

under a large spectrum of skills that constitute comparisons, verbal or symbolic representations,

categorization/classification, sequencing and visual, among others (Kitajima & Lyman-Hager,

2013).

Identification with the Information Processing Theory

As a learner and a professional, I do identify with the information processing theory in

various ways. For instance, there is need to ensure that one process manipulates new information

in a way that he can retain them and retrieve it more easily. Also, as a professional, I need to

elaborate and link the information I acquired from the previous sessions. Therefore, I am

mandated to present meaningful learning resources and adapt my presentation in a way that

meets the needs of every student (Lesgold, 2013). This approach should facilitate quick access to

learned experiences and connect it with new information I impart to the learners. Besides that, it

is important for instructors to draw from myriad aspects of the information processing principles

to help their pupils develop a higher degree of thinking as well as advanced learning skills (Ruiji,

2012). Also, I identify with the theory in the sense that a teacher has to consider the larger

context in which instruction takes place.

Additionally, knowledge of this theory can help students in my classroom in different

ways. First, knowledge of the theory will help understand the notion that the need to understand

how the human mind processes and stores information is a valuable consideration instructors

need to acknowledge as they develop teaching programs. Thus it becomes an issue of concern for

an educator to lack a better understanding of the skills his or her students involve in information

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processing. Also, I can hold a better understanding of the skills my pupils involve in information

processing. This is a critical requirement because it can place me to single out the disparities

among the students thus come with effective strategies for actualizing their distinct needs and

capabilities (Lesgold, 2013). Also, the knowledge of the theory will help me develop a

comprehensive instructional program or curriculum that bears a higher impact on the quality of

children’s learning and achievement.

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References

Block, R. A. (2014). Cognitive models of the psychological time. Psychology Press.

BRUNER, I. (2011). 3 Some theorems on instruction. Readings in educational psychology, 66,

112.

Crawford, C., & Krebs, D. L. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of evolutionary psychology: Ideas,

issues, and applications. Psychology Press.

Kitajima, R., & Lyman-Hager, M. A. (2013). Theory-driven use of digital video in foreign

language instruction. CALICO journal, 16(1), 37-48.

Lesgold, A. (Ed.). (2013). Cognitive psychology and instruction (Vol. 5). Springer Science &

Business Media.

Lindsay, P. H., & Norman, D. A. (2013). Human information processing: An introduction to

psychology. Academic Press.

McLeod, S. A. (2008). Information Processing. Accessed on August 15, 2012, from

www.simplypsychology.org/information-processing.html

Miller, P. H. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology. New York, NY; Worth

Ruiji, L. (2012). The Development of Multimedia Teaching Resources based on Information

Processing Theory. International Journal of Advancements in Computing Technology,

4(2).

Sarason, I. G., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, B. R. (2014). Cognitive interference: Theories, methods,

and findings. Routledge.

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