Prepared by:

Jessa M. Villacorta
Information Processing Psychology
History

The cognitive revolution in the late 1950's sparked the emergence of the
theory. One major catalyst of the cognitive revolution was the invention of the
computer. The model is constructed to represent mental processes much like
that of a computer. No one theorist claims to have invented the model. A
consensus model was refined by Atkinson and Shiffrin that is known as the modal
model (1968). The concept simply encompasses the ideas of internal processes
that were ignored by the predominate behaviorists. The model creates a basic
structure for experimental research of these internal processes.

Memory Learning that has persisted over time- information that has
been stored and, in many cases, can be recalled.
o Recall a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve
information learned earlier.
o Recognition A measure of memory in which the person need only
identify items previously learned.
o Relearning a measure of memory that assesses the amount of
time saved when learning material again.
THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
Cognitive approach.

To understand how the human mind transforms sensory information.

It focuses on the knowledge which guides those responses.
This theory assumes that information that comes from the environment is
subject to mental processes beyond a simple stimulus-response pattern.
"Input" from the environment goes through the cognitive systems which is
then measured by the "output".
Cognitive processes include perception, recognition, imagining,
remembering, thinking, judging, reasoning, problem solving,
conceptualizing, and planning.

CONTENT OF THE THEORY

I. SENSORY MEMORY - The entry point for all information coming into the
system.
Signals from the five senses such as sight, hearing, taste, smell,
and touch.
Sensory memory can hold quite a lot of information, but it
cannot keep any of this information for very long time due to the
constant inflow of new data.
Duration: 3 to 5 seconds
 Prepared by:
Jessa M. Villacorta

II. SHORT TERM (WORKING) MEMORY conscious, active processing of

incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information
retrieved from long term memory.
After stimuli enter sensory memory, they are either forwarded to
working memory or deleted from the system.
Short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of information (7
plus or minus 2) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. (-2 or +2)
Duration: 15 to 20 seconds unless it is repeated at which point it
may be available for up to 20 minutes.
However, working memory is a very small place.
It is a multi-component temporary memory system in which
information is assigned meaning, linked to other information, and
essential mental operations such as inferences are performed.
Maintenance Rehearsal - Repeating the information over and
over.
Explicit Memory (Declarative) memory of facts and
experiences that one can consciously know and declare.
Implicit Memory (Non-Declarative) retention independent of
conscious retention.
Classically conditioned associations
Automatic Processing non-conscious encoding of incidental
information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-
learned information such as word meanings.
Strategies
o Mnemonics
o Chunking
Processing
o Shallow Processing encoding information on basic
auditory or visual levels, based on the sound, structure or
appearance of a word.
o Deep Processing encodes semantically, based on actual
meaning associated with the word.
III. LONG TERM MEMORY - An area that stores information permanently.
In order to arrive in long-term memory, information must have
been sufficiently processed in working memory because working
memory is the exclusive route to long-term memory.
Information sufficiently processed by considering both the
amount of time spent and the quality of processing encountered
there.
Duration: No limit space and no expired date.

Priming (Memoryless Memory) activating associations non-consciously.

Context-Dependent Memory
State-Dependent
Mood Congruent
 Prepared by:
Jessa M. Villacorta
Serial Position Effect our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Primacy Effect
Recency Effect
Storage Decay Natural forgetting over time.
Interference

Proactive Interference the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall

of new information.
Retroactive Interference the disruptive effect of new learning on the
recall of old information.
Errors
Misinformation Effect incorporating misleading information into ones
memory of an event.
Source Misattribution forgetting or misrecalling the source of a memory.
Current Areas of Research

Information Processing Theory is currently being utilized in the study of

computer or artificial intelligence.
This theory has also been applied to systems beyond the individual,
including families and business organizations. For example, Ariel (1987)
applied Information Processing Theory to family systems, with sensing,
attending, and encoding stimuli occuring either within individuals
within the system or as the family system itself. Unlike traditional systems
theory, where the family system tends to maintain stasis and resists
incoming stimuli which would violate the system's rules, the Information
Processing family develops individual and mutual schemas which
inflcuence what and how information is attended to and processed.
Dysfunctions can occur both on the individual level as well as within
the family system itself, creating more targets for therapeutic change.
Rogers, Miller, and Judge (1999) utilized Information Processing Theory
to describe business organizational behavior, as well as to present a
model describing how effective and innefective business strategies are
developed. In their study, components of organizations that "sense"
market information are identified as well as how organizations attend
to this information; which gatekeepers determine what information is
relevent/important for the organization, how this is organized into the
existing culture (organizational schemas), and whether or not the
organization has effective or ineffective processes for their long-term
strategy.
 Prepared by:
Jessa M. Villacorta
Criticisms
Models based upon Information Processing Theory takes a somewhat
simplistic view of cognitive processing, with information processing being
viewed as a largely linear process. This model does not take into account
simultaneous or parallel processing.
The metaphor of the computer is off-putting to many, who dislike
comparing human beings to machines.
Computer constructed models that are based upon this theory are highly
complex and again cannot take into account all nuances of human
thought despite their complexity.
Information Processing Theory does not account for fundamental
developmental changes, or changes to the "hardware" of the brain.
There is an excessive focus on internal cognitive processes, with little
attention being paid to environmental influences or the nature of the
external stimuli the individual is exposed to.
The information processing model is described as being universal, with
little attention being paid to individual differences or cultural differences.

References and Suggested Further Readings:

Ariel, S. (1987). An information processing theory of family

dysfunction. Psychotherapy, 24, 477-495.
Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and
its control processes. The psychology of learning
and motivation, 89-105.
Best, R. (1983). Weve all got scars: What boys and girls learn in elementary
school. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Goodwin, C.J. (2005). A history of modern psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Danvers, MA.
Hamamura, T., Meijer, Z., Heine, S.J., Kamaya, K., & Hori, I. (2009). Approach
avoidance motivation and information
processing: A cross-cultural analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
35, 454-462.
Miller, P. H. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology. New York, NY; Worth.
Rogers, P. R., Miller, A., & Judge, W. Q. (1999). Using information-processing
theory to understand planning/performance relationships
in the context of strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 567-577.
Schmeichel, B. J., Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Intellectual performance
and ego depletion: Role of the self in logical
reasoning and other information processing. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 85, 33 46.
Shaki, S. & Gevers, W. (2011). Cultural characteristics dissociate magnitude and
ordinal information processing. Journal of Cross-
Cultural Psychology, 42, 639-650.