Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Memory and Information Processing
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Memory & Information Processing
• Information Processing Approach
– Reflects the “Cognitive Revolution”
– Used computer as model
• Hardware is the computer itself
• In humans it is the brain
• Software: programs- e.g., word
processing
• In humans: how information is
registered, interpreted, stored, retrieved
and analyzed
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Memory Systems
• Sensory register: fleeting
– With attention, encoding occurs
• Storage
– Short-term memory - limited to 6 items
– Working memory - active STM
– Long-term memory – relatively permanent
• Retrieval
– Recognition; Recall; Cued Recall
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Implicit and Explicit Memory
• Implicit memory
– Unintentional, automatic
– Information from everyday experiences
– Does not change over lifespan
• Explicit memory
– Deliberate, effortful
– Increases from infancy to adulthood
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Problem Solving
• Using the information processing system to
reach a goal (solve a problem)
• Executive control processes
– Selection from storage
– Planning, monitoring, interpreting, etc.
– Parallel processing
•
Rather than sequential tasks
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Problem Solving 2
• Possible difficulties for young children
– Not paying attention to relevant aspects
– Unable to hold info in working memory
– Lack strategies for:
• Transfer from STM to LTM
• Retrieval from LTM
– Not enough knowledge to understand
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
The Infant
• Imitation
– Of facial expressions by 6 weeks
– Deferred imitation by 6 months
• Habituation – present at birth
• Operant conditioning
– Ribbon & mobile task
– Cued recall: kick when ribbon attached
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Four Hypotheses
• Dramatic improvements in learning, memory
•
and problem solving
4 major hypotheses as to why
1) Changes in basic capacities?
• Not storage or senses
• Changes in speed allow parallel
processing
• Automaticity frees working memory
space
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Four Hypotheses (continued)
• 2) Do memory strategies change?
– Rehearsal by age 7
– Organization by age 10
– Elaboration later
– Retrieval strategies
• External cues needed when younger
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Four Hypotheses (continued)
• 3) Changes in knowledge about memory?
• Metamemory: knowledge of memory
– Present in young children
– Awareness of memory processes is
beneficial even to young children
– Gets better with age
– Experience is important
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Four Hypotheses (continued)
• 4) Changes in world knowledge?
– Yes. Knowledge base clearly affects
learning and memory
– Domain familiarity and expertise
– E.g., Chi (1978) study of Chess
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Autobiographical Memories
• Infantile Amnesia before age 2 - 3
– Lack of language
– Fuzzy trace theory
• Scripts: Typical sequence of actions
– Affect memory
• Eyewitness Memory
– Improves with age; younger suggestible
– Accuracy better with open questions
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Changes in Problem Solving
• Improves with age in childhood
• New cognitive structures (Piaget)
• Rule Assessment (Siegler)
• More efficient strategies
• Natural selection
– Most adaptive strategy survives
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Adolescence
• New strategies emerge (elaboration)
• Better use of strategies
• Basic capacities increase (e.g., speed)
• Knowledge base increases
• Metacognition improves
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Adulthood – Developing Expertise
• Domain specific knowledge base increases
• Strategy use
– More organized
– More elaborative techniques
– Also domain specific
• Automaticity of more information
• Autobiographical: memories from age 15-25
is higher than from other points in life
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Memory and Aging
• Older adults learn more slowly
• Remember less learned information
– Declines by age 70
– Timed tasks, unfamiliar tasks
– Recall vs. recognition
– Explicit memory tasks more trouble
– Cognitively demanding tasks
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Explaining Declines
• Negative beliefs affect memory skills
• Strategy use not spontaneous
• Attention becomes more effortful (motivation)
• Processing speed decreases
• Sensory, health, and lifestyle changes
• Cohort differences (age and IQ)
• *Declines NOT universal
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Fig 8.9
Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 8
Problem Solving
• Unfamiliar tasks more difficult
• Meaninglessness a problem
• Contextual view
– Evaluate nature of the task
• Is speed required
• Unfamiliar, unexercised skills
– Consider individual differences
• Everyday functioning maintained