Information Processing
Chapter 8
Information Processing Approach
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Goal = examine how children/adults operate
on/process information
Have limited capacities
No single theory
General approach
Reasoning  processing abilities
More efficient processing = better reasoning
Focus on domain specific skills rather than
general skills that apply across domains
Models of Information Processing
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Atkinson & Shiffrin’s multistore model
– Three parts of system
 Sensory register
 Short term memory (STM) (book = short term store)
 Long term memory (LTM) (book = long term store)
– Inborn and universal
– Analogy = computer
 Stores = hardware
 Control processes/mental strategies = software
Atkinson & Shiffrin’s Model
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Sensory Register
– Sights/sounds represented directly
– Limited capacity
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Short-Term Memory (STM)
– Conscious part
– Limited capacity
 7 +/- 2 units of information
– Limited time
Atkinson & Shiffrin’s Model
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Long-Term Memory (LTM)
– Unlimited capacity
– Unlimited time frame
– Organization and memory strategies
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Figure 8.1 A schematic model of the human information processing system.
ADAPTED FROM ATKINSON & SHIFFRIN, 1968.
Levels-of-Processing Model
No “containers” with fixed limits
 Retention  depth
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Levels-of-Processing Model
Queen
Bread
West
Boy
Cold
East
Play
Butter
Thin
Table
Girl
North
Chair
Love
King
Lake
Hat
Pencil
Hot
Lamp
Bottle
Candy
Photograph
Belt
Levels-of-Processing Model
Shallow  decays
 Deeper  retained
 Problems due to distribution of attention
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Levels-of-Processing Model
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STM/STS replaced by working memory
– The conscious pool of attentional resources
from which our information-processing
activities draw (Baddeley, 1992)
Attention depends on learned/automatic
processes
 Operating efficiency hypothesis – Case
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Comparisons
Hardware and software change
 Levels-of-processing  software
 Control processes improve with age
 Controversy regarding hardware…
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Control Processes
(Software/Strategies)
Strategy = deliberately implemented,
goal-directed operations used to improve
task performance
 Increase likelihood information in STM 
to LTM
 In general, younger children = fewer
strategies; less effective
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Control Processes
(Software/Strategies)
Production deficiency
 Utilization deficiency
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Control Processes
(Software/Strategies)
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Children of all ages have a variety of
strategies that they choose from when
solving problems
– not stagelike
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Rehearsal
– Rarely < 6-7 years
Control Processes
(Software/Strategies)
Organization
 Elaboration
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– Develops late, compared to other strategies
Retrieval of Information
Recognition
 Recall
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– Free recall vs. cued recall
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Reconstruction
Fuzzy-Trace Theory
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Continuum of memory representations
– Verbatim = literal
– Fuzzy (gist) = content, but not detail
Capacity vs. Knowledge
Why is the memory of older
children/adults better than that of younger
children?
 Capacity
 Knowledge
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Capacity vs. Knowledge
Differences in children’s and adults’ memory 
knowledge
 Chi: children and adults tested on memory for
chess pieces
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Chess position presented for 10 seconds
Immediate recall – place pieces on blank board
Repeated recall – keep going until perfect
4 lists of 10 digits were also presented
Children chess experts, adults novices
Capacity vs. Knowledge
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Chi: Results
– Interaction between age and material
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Children outperform adults when they’re
more knowledgeable
Capacity vs. Knowledge
Children in Chi’s study were 9 years old,
what about younger children?
 Problem: children’s knowledge may
improve performance, but to measure
STM capacity, need a test not influenced
by differences in knowledge
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Attentional Processing
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Control
– Focused and sustained
– Infants and preschoolers were seated at a
table with age-appropriate toys
 Concentrated involvement
Attentional Processing
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Patterns of Attention
– Young infants habituation
– Preschoolers
– 5-6 year olds
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Adaptability
Attentional Processing
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Patricia Miller: strategy development
follows a predictable sequence
– Production deficiency
– Control deficiency
– Utilization deficiency
Planfulness
Thinking out a sequence of acts ahead of
time and allocating attention accordingly
to reach a goal
 Infancy
 Preschool
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Memory
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Infantile amnesia
– Nonverbal form
– Sense of self
Development of Scripted Memory
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Scripts – schemes for recurring events
organized in terms of causal and temporal
sequences
– Organizes world
– Tend to remember info consistent with scripts
– Become more elaborate with age
Eyewitness Memory
Attorney: “How did you get hurt at
naptime?”
Child:
“I don’t know.”
Attorney: “Did Sandy hurt you?”
Child:
nodded yes
Eyewitness Memory
Older children > younger children
 Preschooler  accurate, fewer precise
details
 False memories are as resistant to
forgetting as true memories are
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Eyewitness Memory
Leading questions suggest answers
 Even adults are susceptible
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– Loftus – film of car crash
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Age-related changes in susceptibility to
misleading questions
Eyewitness Memory
Ages 3-12 told story with pictures
 Some information presented both verbally
and in pictures, some information in
pictures only
 Story about a girl on the first day of
school who ate her breakfast too quickly
and got a stomachache
 Stomachache verbally and in pictures,
eggs in picture only
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Eyewitness Memory
Results (% correct)
3-4 5-6 7-9 10-12
Control:
84 87 95 95
Biased:
37 58 67 84
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Eyewitness Memory
Perhaps no memory distortion
 Children are intimidated by authority?
 4 and 5 year olds given same task, but 7
year olds did interview second day
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Eyewitness Memory
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Results
biased: 53% correct
unbiased: 72% correct
Selected children from experiment 1 who fell
in 4-5 year old range
biased: 34% correct
unbiased: 74% correct
Eyewitness Memory
Misleading suggestions  memory errors
 Children, especially young children, may
be most susceptible, but it’s not clear why
 Children younger than 9/10 are far more
susceptible than older children,
adolescents, and adults
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Memory for Actual Events
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4 and 7 year olds went to a trailer where
an adult interacted with them and played
games
– Simon says
– Clown
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10-12 days later returned for a memory
test
– Specific questions
– Misleading questions
Memory for Actual Events
Results
Specific questions:
4-year-olds
79%
7-year-olds
91%
Misleading questions:
4-year-olds
86%
7-year-olds
95%
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correct
correct
correct
correct
Memory for Actual Events
Memory of a medical examination
 Memory:
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– Free recall
– Anatomically detailed doll
– Direct and misleading questions
Memory for Actual Events
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Results
– Genital condition
– Nongenital condition
– 3 out of 36 falsely reported in response to
misleading questions
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False reports rare, but did occur
Memory for Actual Events
Children may underreport abuse
 Be careful of leading questions
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