INFORMATION PROCESSING

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Topic 7

• INFORMATION PROCESSING

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INFORMATION PROCESSING

• Listening visualizing ? an important
  element in communication.
• Through auditory perception and visual
  perception (stimulus)
• A person can understand what message the
  other person trying to convey
• How to respond back to the perceptions
• Stimulus received ? is then process
  (information processing) ? where individual
  digest (process) what information he has
  learn from his environment ? ten store
  them in the memory.

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Information Processing

• Cognitive psychology developed around late
  50s.
• Primary focus of cognitive psychology is on
  memory (the storage retrieval of information).
• Information Processing theorists proposed that
  like the computer ? the human mind is a system
  that processes information through the
  application of logical rules and strategies.
• Like the computer, the mind has a limited
  capacity for the amount and nature of the
  information it can process.

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Information Processing

• This group of information theorist used
  computer as a model for the way human think,
  where they look at

• The way people
• take in,
• process , and
• act on information

• focusing on attention, perception memory.

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Information Processing Approach

• What is memory?
• Memory is the retention of learned material
• Information processing model are used to
• describe and explain cognitive (mental)
  process, such as thinking problem solving.
• Whenever one's senses are activated (physical
  energy) the information immediately is placed in
  sensory store/register ? Information that one
  "attends to" is transferred to Short Term Memory
  (STM)? Information in STM that is rehearsed is
  transferred to Long Term Memory (LTM).

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Information Processing Approach

• Humans have three types of memory-
• Sensory Register
• Short Term memory
• Long Term memory
• Each type of memory has two characteristics
• a. Capacity
• large capacity/small capacity/unlimited capacity
  (?)
• b. Duration
• brief duration/ short duration/ unlimited
  duration(?)
• The information processing approach focuses on
  the study of the structure and function of mental
  processing within specific contexts,
  environments, or ecologies.

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Types of Memory

• Sensory register
• Part of memory that receives all the
  information a person senses from the environment
  and stores it fleetingly.
• Short term memory
• A part where new information is stored
  temporarily, until it is either lost or placed
  into long term memory
• Also known as working memory (working space),
  where a decision must be made to discard
  information or to transfer it to permanent
  storage, in long-term memory.
• Long Term memory
• Part of memory which has unlimited capacity
  can hold information indefinitely.
• the encyclopedic mental processing unit in which
  information may be stored permanently and from
  which it may be later retrieved.

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Information Processing Approach

• When people pay attention to an information?
  the sensory register will pick the information
  ? goes into the working memory.
• Once in working memory ? information is
  processed/ practiced within 15-20 sec ? then
  transfer to the long term memory.
• If people dont pay attention ? the information
  is lost.
• New information will be transferred to Long
  term memory when
• it is linked in some way with prior knowledge
  already in the LTM.
• Information is translated into meaningful
  form (encoded)
• Information in the LTM is retrieve through a
  process of identification recall for a
  particular purpose.

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The four main beliefs of the information-processi
ng approach

• When a person perceives, encodes, represents,
  and stores information from the environment in
  his mind/retrieves that information, he is
  thinking.
• Thinking also includes responding to any
  constraints or limitations on memory processes.
• The proper focus of study is the role of change
  mechanism in development.
• Four critical mechanisms work together to bring
  about change in childrens cognitive skills
• Encoding
• Strategy construction
• Automatization
• Generalization
• To solve problems effectively, children must
  encode critical information about a problem and
  then use this encoded information and relevant
  prior knowledge to construct a strategy to deal
  with the problem

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The four main beliefs of the information-processi
ng approach

• Development is driven by self modification.
• According to the information-processing
  approach, children play an active role in their
  own development. Through self-modification, the
  child uses knowledge and strategies she has
  acquired from earlier problem solution to modify
  her responses to a new situation or problem.
• In this way, she builds newer and more
  sophisticated responses from prior knowledge
• Investigators must perform careful task analysis
  of the problem situations they present to
  children, i.e. child performance may be
  limited by
• the childs own level of development, and
• the nature of the task .
• Thus a child may possess the basic ability
  necessary to perform a particular task when it is
  presented in a simple form , but if if extra or
  misleading information is added to the same task,
  the child may become confused and be unable to
  perform it.

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Strategies In Encoding/ Memorizing

• Chunking
• Rehearsal
• Imagery
• Mnemonics
• Schema activation
• Level of processing

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Strategies in encoding/ memorizing

• Chunking
• Breaking the information into manageable
  chunk.
• eg. OFHRTJUDYCX ? OFH RTJ UDY CX
• Rehearsal
• Simple repetition
• Elaboration ? when info to be remembered is
  linked to other information
• Imagery
• Conjured image of an object/related meaning.

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Strategies in encoding/ memorizing

• Mnemonics
• Memory strategy to help remember information
• Eg. A rhyme or pairing of to-be-learned
  information with well learned information.
• Schema activation
• Strategy to use with encoding complex info. ?
  relates new information to prior knowledge.
• Level of processing
• Material that is only skimmed will not be
  as deeply processed as material that is
  studied in detail.

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There are four major theories of how we humans
process information

• Stage approach
• Levels-of-processing theory
• Parallel distributed processing theory
• Connectionistic models

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Stage ModelAtkinson and Shriffin (1968)

• The focus of this model is on how information is
  stored in memory.
• The model is based on the work of Atkinson and
  Shriffin (1968) and proposes that information is
  processed and stored in three stages
• Sensory memory (sensory register) (SR)
• Short term memory (STM)
• Long term memory (LTM)
• This model viewed information processing as
  moving through a series of processing units
  (SR, STM, LTM) in each of which it may be
  stored, either fleetingly or permanently.

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Levels-of-processing theory Craik and Lockhart
(1972).

• The major proposition is ? all stimuli that
  activate a sensory receptor cell are permanently
  stored in memory.
• According to these researchers, the issue is not
  storage, but retrieval.
• Rather than hypothesize that information is
  processed in stages, Craik and Lockhart believe
  that retrieval of information is based on the
  amount of elaboration used as information is
  processed.
• This is done on a continuum from perception,
  through attention, to labeling, and finally
  meaning.

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Parallel distributed processing theory

• The parallel-distributed processing model states
  that information is processed simultaneously by
  several different parts of the memory system,
  rather than sequentially as hypothesized by
  Atkinson-Shiffrin.
• The model postulates that information is not
  inputted into the memory system in a step by step
  manner but instead, facts or images are
  distributed to all parts in the memory system at
  once.
• "These models assume that information processing
  takes place through interactions of large numbers
  of simple processing elements called units, each
  sending excitatory and inhibitory signals to
  other units." (McLelland, J., Rumelhart, D.,
  Hinton, G., 1986,p.10)

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Connectionistic models Rumelhart and McClelland
(1986)

• The connectionistic model proposed by Rumelhart
  and McClelland (1986) extends the
  parallel-distributed processing model.
• This model emphasizes the fact that information
  is stored in multiple locations throughout the
  brain in the form of networks of connections.
• It is one of the dominant forms of current
  research in cognitive psychology and is
  consistent with the most recent brain research.
• It is also consistent with the
  levels-of-processing approach in that the more
  connections to a single idea or concept (i.e.,
  the more extensively elaboration is used), the
  more likely it is to be remembered.

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Information Processing Model The Stage Theory

• (Atkinson Shiffrin, 1968)

• Information Is Processed Stored In 3 Stages
• Sensory Memory
• Short Term Memory
• Long Term Memory

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Information Processing Model The Stage Theory
(Atkinson Shiffrin, 1968)
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Sensory Memory (SM)

• Memory starts with a sensory input from the
  environment , i.e. sensory as source of
  information (vision, light, sound, smell, heat,
  etc)
• In the SM ? input are held for a very brief
  time ? several seconds.
• Sensory receptor (neurons) send this message
  (receive from sensory organ) ? as a form of
  energy to the brain.
• Through the process of transduction (change
  from one form of energy to another), a
  memory is created.
• Memory in the SM is very short
• Vision less than ½ second Hearing less
  than 3 sec
• SM is a very important stage because the
  person must attend to the information receive
  at this initial stage in order to transfer it
  (info) to the next stage.
• Individual are more like to pay attention to a
  stimulus if
• It has an interesting features
• It activates a known pattern

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Short Term Memory (STM)

• Also known as working memory ? Relates to
  what we are thinking about at any given
  moment in time.
• STM is created through-
• Attention to an external stimulus
• Attention to internal thoughts
• Both external stimulus and internal thoughts.
• STM will last for 15-20 sec ?unless is
  repeated (known as maintenance rehearsal) ? can
  last for up to 20 min.
• Attention ? focused on items of information?
  repeated over over (silently/loudly)?
  processed in such a way link it to other
  prior information that has already been
  stored in the memory.
• Elaborative rehearsal? giving the material
  organization meaning as it is being
  rehearsed ? use strategies that give meaning
  organization to material ? so that the
  to-be-remembered information can be fitted in
  with the existing organized long term memories.

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Long Term Memory (LTM)

• Unprocessed information ? will be lost/
  forgotten.
• When information are placed in LTM, they are
  put into organized categories ? where they
  reside for days, months, years, life time.
• When you remember something ? a copy of the
  item is withdrawn (retrieve) from the LTM.
• Some theories believe ? there is no true
  forgetting from the long-term memory ? because
  once information is stored, it is there for
  good.
• If/when we seem to forget ? it is because we
  have trouble retrieving or getting access to
  what has been stored (information stored in
  unorganized way).
• Thus, information in the Long Term Memory must
  be encoded, stored and placed in memory in
  organized way ? for easy retrieval.

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SCL

• Discuss on the following theories of
  information processing
• Levels-of-processing theory
• Parallel distributed processing theory
• Connectionistic models

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Divided Attention
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• What is Attention?
• What is Divided Attention?

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What is Attention?

• Attention is..
• a concept studied in cognitive psychology that
  refers to how we actively process specific
  information present in our environment.
• the cognitive process of selectively
  concentrating on one aspect of the environment
  while ignoring other things.
• Attention has also been referred to as the
  allocation of processing resources.

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Attention

• Examples
• Listening to a mobile phone conversation while
  driving a car
• Listening carefully to what someone is saying
  while ignoring other noisy conversations in a
  room.
• Numerous sights, sounds and sensations going on
  around you the pressure of your feet against
  the floor, the sight of the street out of a
  nearby window, the soft warmth of your shirt, the
  memory of a conversation you had earlier with a
  friend.
• How do we manage to experience all of these
  sensations and still focus on just one element of
  our environment?

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How are we able to concentrate on one
specific thing while there are many stimulus
around us?

• According to William James,
• attention is the taking possession of the mind,
  in clear and vivid form, of one out of what may
  seem several simultaneously possible objects or
  trains of thoughtsIt implies withdrawal from
  some things in order to deal effectively with
  others 1.
• Think of attention as a highlighter, i.e. as you
  read through a section of text in a book, the
  highlighted section stands out, causing you to
  focus your interest on that area.
• Attention allows you to tune out information,
  sensations and perceptions that are not relevant
  at the moment and instead focus your energy on
  the information that is important.

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What is Divided attention?

• Divided attention is
• the condition of paying attention to more than
  one stimulus or to a stimulus presented in more
  than one modality.
• The process by which an individual can perform
  multiple tasks at the same time.
• An individual attention can be divided
  between two
• Verbal task
• Visual task

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• A person can pay simultaneous attention on
  both verbal and visual tasks because
• They have enough practice (often do it)
• They are able to divide their attention
  automatically (acquire a high degree of
  automaticity)
• Our brain has the ability to pay attention
  to selected aspect of the environment and
  further divide the attention between
  tasks (verbal visual).

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CAN WE REALLY MULTITASK?
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Study suggests why cell phones and driving dont
mix

• Study suggests why cell phones and driving dont
  mix
• According to a study carried out by a Johns
  Hopkins University psychologist, the reason why
  talking on a cell phone makes drivers less safe
  because
• the brain cant simultaneously give full
  attention to both the visual task of driving and
  the auditory task of listening
• Directing attention to listening effectively
  turns down the volume on input to the visual
  parts of the brain. The evidence we have right
  now strongly suggests that attention is strictly
  limited - a zero-sum game. When attention is
  deployed to one modality (for e.g. , talking on
  a cell phone) - it necessarily extracts a cost on
  another modality - in this case, the visual task
  of driving.

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Cerebral Cortex

• Thin layer on the brains surface that include
  lobes or sections.
• Occipital lobe process vision.
• Temporal Lobe process hearing
• Parietal Lobe process sensory stimuli
• Frontal Lobe critical thinking problem solving

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Automaticity Processing

• What is automaticity?
• Automaticity refers to knowing how to perform
  some arbitrary task at a competent level without
  requiring conscious efforti.e. it is a form of
  unconscious competence.
• Automaticity is the ability to do things without
  occupying the mind with the low-level details
  required, allowing it to become an automatic
  response pattern or habit ? i.e. performing of
  a primary task is minimally affected by other
  ongoing tasks
• People often refer to automaticity by saying
  I can do the task on auto-pilot or in
  my sleep.
• Examples speaking, bicycle-riding, assembly-line
  work, and driving a car.
• It is usually the result of learning, repetition
  and practice.

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Automaticity Processing

• Practice played a major role in determining
  ones performance.
• After an activity is sufficiently practiced, it
  is possible to focus the mind on other activities
  or thoughts while undertaking an automaticized
  activity (for example, holding a conversation or
  planning a speech while driving a car).

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Practice played a major role in determining
ones performance.

• Try to remember your first few driving
  lessons/ to learn to cycle/ remembering a
  song, etc. is it difficult?
• Do you have to concentrate on what to do?
  What not to do? Etc
• But, the more you practiced, the more
  automatic your action (e.g. driving) became,
  until you could actually drive without thinking
  about what to do.
• In fact while driving, at the same time
  your mind could be thinking about something
  else, you are talking to someone or you could
  be listening to the radio, etc
• Processing activities become automatic
  as a result of prolonged practice

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Why does error occur in information processing
and action?

• Why do we make mistakes?!!
• Slips/mistakes are amusing, harmless happen to
  all of us but sometimes it may lead to
  embarrassment or dangerous situations they
  usually seem like harmless oddities. Examples of
  mistakes-
• Forgetting about an important information
• Forgetting to turn on headlights when driving a
  car at night is also common.
• Slip of action ? we meant something else
  but we said something else left ? we
  mean right
• A story of an air-traffic controller ? An
  air-traffic controller once told a plane to taxi
  to the left runway when he meant the right.
• Such a left/right slip is the most common of
  verbal confusions, but in this case it could have
  led to tragedy (fortunately, it didnt).

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Why do we make mistakes?

• According to Sigmund Freud, slips occur due
  to a persons unconscious wish or intentions.
• Slips also can occur
• when stray information throws off human
  information-processing system.
• As a result from competition and intermixing
  among underlying mental-processing mechanisms,
  often working parallel to one another.

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• According to Donald Norman, most actions are
  carried out by subconscious mechanisms i.e. We
  'will' an action.
• The intention, once specified, releases control
  processes, or "scheme," that lead to the
  exquisitely timed, complex motor actions involved
  in manipulation of mind and body. For example?
  When I drive home from work, the appropriate
  schemes are activated by previous actions. I need
  not plan the details I simply decide and act.
• Slips also may occur when different parts
  of the information-processing sequence go awry .
• The likelihood of human error also increases
  when there is stress.

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• An example of description error
• A chartered airliner flying from Houston to
  Montreal crashed exactly on the border between
  the United States and Canada. A major political
  issue developed over the following question In
  which country should the survivors be buried?
• Most people puzzle over the choice of country. In
  fact, the story was made up to trap the unwary
  it is the dead who should be buried, not the
  survivors.
• The story sets us up to be lazy mentallyto
  except the critical leftovers to be the dead
  onesso we dont process the word "survivors"
  deeply enough.

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• An example of selection errors are similarly
  common. For instance
• In getting ready for a party, one person
  carefully prepared a cake and a salad, then put
  the cake in the refrigerator and the salad in the
  oven. Or.
• eating your friends sandwich from a plate that
  looks like yours, or
• putting the top of the sugar bowl on top of a
  coffee mug of the same size.
• Tossing away your sweaty T-shirt into the
  toilet, instead of into the laundry basket.

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Concept Formation
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What is concepts?

• Words are not concepts ? Words are signs for
  concepts.
• Concepts are generalized ideas that represent a
  class of objects or events ? an abstract
  idea/mental symbol, typically associated with a
  corresponding representation in language or
  symbol, that denotes all of the objects in a
  given category or class of entities,
  interactions, phenomena, or relationships between
  them.
• Whats the difference between perception and
  concepts?
• Perceptions? is based on a particular images of
  individual objects
• Concepts ? cannot be visualized (not image) ?
  They can only be thought about, or designated, by
  means of a name.

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What is Concept formation ?

• Concepts are the categorization of objects,
  events, or people that share common properties.
• By using concepts, we are able to organize
  complex notions into simpler, and therefore more
  easily usable forms.
• Concept formation is the process by which we
  learn to form classes of things, event, people,
  etc.
• According to Piaget Vygotsky ? children form
  their own concepts through experience, assimilate
  existing concepts such as cultural values, norms
  beliefs from adults ? then further create and
  develop their own concepts as they mature toward
  adulthood.

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Concept formation .

• Based on combination between -
• the physical, concrete/abstract characteristics
  of objects, logico-mathematical principle, and
• everyday experiences (with the natural and social
  worlds) and our subjective, personal, and
  cultural interpretations we give to them
• The combination of this lead to the creation
  and defining of new concepts ? as we
  interact with our world, seeking to understand
  all that we encounter and innovating, creating
  new and better concepts and substantial objects
  that improve the quality of our lives.

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SCL

• Discuss the following-
• How does children form science and
  mathematics concepts?
• How automaticity processing occur in a
  person?
• Why do we make mistakes?