1 / 24

Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Information Processing. Information Processing. Not a single, unified theory; no major theorist Assume the mind operates like a computer Investigates : Attention Memory Thinking Metacognition: Knowledge of when and how to use strategies to think, remember, and problem-solve.

romeo
Download Presentation

Chapter 7

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 7 Information Processing

  2. Information Processing • Not a single, unified theory; no major theorist • Assume the mind operates like a computer • Investigates: • Attention • Memory • Thinking • Metacognition: Knowledge of when and how to use strategies to think, remember, and problem-solve.

  3. Principles of Change • Automaticity (biological response to experience) • No conscious effort required • Conscious Strategy Construction • Self-modification • Metacognition • Gradual change

  4. Speed of Mental Processing • Rises dramatically across childhood • Young adult comparison study • 10 year olds were 1.8 times slower • 12 year olds were 1.5 times slower • 15 year olds were the same • Declines from the 40’s • Experience or biological maturation? • myelination

  5. Speed of Mental Processing Does processing speed matter? • May help you think better • May help you learn faster • May be compensated for by experience

  6. Attention in Childhood • Control improves with age • 10-month olds more distractible than 26 month olds • Preschoolers may watch TV for half an hour at a time • Anderson and others (1985) visual attention drastically improves in the preschool years

  7. Selective Attention • Older & more socially advantaged children are more focused & less distractible • Ruff & Hobart (1996) Ability to pay attention in preschool is related to achievement, relationship & social skills • Peer rejection and aggressive behavior are related to lack of ability to control attention • Related to school readiness

  8. Attention to Salience vs. Relevance • Preschoolers pay attention to whatever stands out • After age 6 or 7, there is more cognitive control • Older children shift attention better • Older adults may begin to lose the ability to shift attention (driving)

  9. Memory • Constructed (& Reconstructed)/ Not copied • Guided by schemas – existing knowledge & understanding • Can be distorted • Bugs Bunny study • misinformation Effect • source amnesia

  10. Types of Memory • Implicit • Procedural • emotional, conditioned, reflexive • Explicit – (declarative) • episodic • semantic

  11. Development of Memory • Rovee-Collier • Babies have detailed memory at 2 ½ months • Ties a baby’s ankle to a mobile. They kick and move the mobile. What do they do if placed in the crib weeks later? • They kick, but only if the mobile is the same. • Infants 2-6 months can carry memory to 1 ½ - 2 years. Is it only implicit memory?

  12. Memory in Infancy • Other researchers - • Babies do not show explicit memory until the second half of the first year of life. • Explicit (conscious) memory improves substantially during the second year.

  13. Infantile Amnesia • No permanent long-term memory before age 3, little in pre-school (infantile amnesia). • May have to do with lack of enough development in the hippocampus and/or pre-frontal lobes

  14. Children’s Short-Term Memory • Memory span in digits • 2 digits 2-3 year olds • 5 digits 7 year olds • 6 ½ digits 13 year olds • (Related to speed of repetition)

  15. Children’s Long-term Memory - Eyewitnesses • There are age differences in susceptibility to suggestion. • There are also individual differences (low self-concept, low support from parents). • Interview techniques can produce substantial distortions.

  16. Long-term Memory Strategies • Rehearsing • Organizing • Elaboration (Thinking about it) • Personal relevance • Images

  17. Children’s Long-term Memory • Increase strategy use with age • Fuzzy-trace theory • Using gist vs. verbatim • Affected by Knowledge base • Schema elaboration • Chase & Chi

  18. Metamemory (Use of Strategies) Improves During Childhood • Ages 5-6 know that • Familiar items are easier to remember • Short lists are easier than long ones • Recognition is easier than recall • Forgetting becomes more likely over time

  19. Metamemory (Use of Strategies) Improves During Childhood • At Ages 5-6, do not know that • related items are easier to remember • Gist is easier than verbatim • Inflated opinion of their memory abilities

  20. Adult Memory • Working memory • Peak at 45? Decline at 57? • Processing speed?

  21. Facts & Findings • Young adults have better episodic memory than older ones • Among older adults, older memories are less accurate than more recent ones • Older adults take longer to retrieve semantic memory

  22. Facts & Findings • Implicit memory is less likely to be affected by aging • Source amnesia gets worse (source memory declines) in older adulthood • Prospective memory (remembering to do something) • Time-based poorer than event-based

  23. Adult Memory: Summary & Review • Declines in • Processing speed • Working memory • Episodic memory

  24. Negative Influences on Memory in Older Adulthood • Physical declines • Anxiety & depression • Beliefs about losing memory important • Attitudes & feelings important (e.g., low self-efficacy) • Good health will reduce, but not eliminate declines

More Related