Information Processing Blog 1

This module on information processing theory is important for every teacher to understand. This is because the theory describes how we learn and what impacts our ability to remember and process what we learn. This can help parents and teachers understand how to better teach their kids/students so that they can retain the most out of everything they learn. Every student learns differently, so it is up to the teacher to be able to come up with a variety of ways that can help a student process information, regardless of strengths or weaknesses. Information processing theory is different from behaviorism because it involves cognitive processes whereas behaviorism focuses more on actions to stimuli.

The first stage of information processing theory is sensory memory. If a stimulus is of any sort of value, it will be registered at a conscious level in sensory memory. If it isn’t then it will be forgotten. This stimulus will continue on to stage two, working memory, because it was marked as being important. Working memory brings the stimulus at the forefront of your mind and also brings up past experiences to help you remember it more. It can chunk the stimulus in different ways to help encode the information. Encoding is a way for the brain to “file” the information presented. After being encoded, the stimulus moves from working memory to long-term memory. Long-term memory is comes in different forms and gets stored in multiple places in the brain. It includes procedural memory and episodic knowledge.

By learning all of this, teachers can help students figure out ways to help encode information easily and efficiently. Teachers will also be able to find creative ways to grab the students’ attention and continue to keep their interest in lessons.

When I took psychology in high school, I learned about echoic memory, which is sensory memory of an auditory stimulus. In the book, it talks about the phonological loop which is associated with working memory. What would be the difference between the two besides the fact that they occur in two stages of the information processing theory?

Learning, according to the information processing theory, occurs in the three stages of information processing: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Rather than focusing on physical behaviors to assess learning, cognitive psychologists look at the mental processes that are involved and HOW a child learns. As teachers, it is important to understand that all students understand and remember information differently. For this reason, it is important to give students time to repeat and review the new information and try to connect it with old knowledge in order to retain everything.

The “Cocktail Party Effect,” the ability to hear your name in a crowded room while having a separate conversation, occurs because humans have selective attention. We are always alert in class and at home when our names are called because that usually means something important. This idea of attentiveness attached to our names follows us everywhere because we are so used to having an immediate response to our name being called. At a party or in a crowded room, our ears perk up at the sound of our name because it’s a habit!