Chapter Eight
Information
Processing
How well do we remember
what we learn in school?
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Overview
• The information processing view of learning
• A model of information processing
• Metacognition
• Helping students become strategic learners
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Information processing view
of learning: Assumptions
• Information focuses on the mind of the student
– Information is processed in steps
or stages
– There are limits on how much information can be
processed at each stage
– The human information processing system is
interactive
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A model of information processing (p. 239)
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The sensory register
• Capacity
– Very large
• Duration
– 1 to 3 seconds
• Contents
– Information perceived by the sensory receptors
(encoded as perceived)
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The sensory register
and its control processes
• Recognition
– Noting key features of a stimulus and relating
them to already stored information
• Attention
– Selective focusing on a portion of the
information currently stored in the sensory
register
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Short-term memory (working memory)
• Capacity
– 7 +/- 2 chunks of information
• Duration
– 20 to 30 seconds
• Contents
– What you are currently thinking about
(information from the sensory register and
information from long term memory)
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Short-term memory
and its control processes
• Rehearsal
– Maintenance rehearsal —repeating
information over and over again; no effect on
long-term memory storage
– Elaborative rehearsal —relating new
information to knowledge already stored in
long-term memory
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Short-term memory
and its control processes
• Elaborative Rehearsal
– Organization
• Organizing information into chunks (related items)
so that more information can be stored and thus
remembered
– Meaningfulness
• Organizing material and relating it to ideas and
experiences already known
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Short-term memory
and its control processes
• Elaborative Rehearsal Cont’d
– Visual imagery encoding (Paivio - dual coding)
• Generating mental images of objects, ideas, and
actions to aid in the storage of memories
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Long-term memory
• Capacity
– Unlimited
• Duration
– Permanent, long-term
• Contents
– Schemata – an abstract structure of
information
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What is metacognition?
Metacognition is…
our knowledge about attention, recognition,
encoding, storage, and retrieval and how
those operations might best be used to
achieve a learning goal.
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Learning Tactics for helping Students
become Strategic Learners
• Memory-directed tactics
– Techniques that help produce accurate storage
and retrieval of information
• Comprehension-directed tactics
– Techniques that aid in understanding the
meaning of ideas and their interrelationships
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Memory-directed tactics
• Rehearsal
– Rote rehearsal
– Cumulative rehearsal
• Mnemonic devices
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Rhyme
Acronym
Acrostic
Method of loci
Keyword
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Comprehension-directed tactics
• Questioning
– Self-questioning
– Peer questioning
– KWL
• Notetaking
– Summarizing
– Outlining
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Self-questioning stems
(King, 1992) p. 281
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What is a new example of…?
How would you use … to…?
What would happen if…?
What are the strengths and
weaknesses of…?
What do we already know
about…?
How does … tie in with what we
learned before?
Explain why…
Explain how…
How does … affect …?
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What is the meaning of…?
Why is … important?
What is the difference between …
and …?
How are … and … similar?
What is the best …, and why?
What are some possible solutions
to the problem of …?
Compare … and … with regard to
…?
How does … cause …?
What do you think causes…?
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The components
of a learning strategy
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Metacognition
Analysis
Planning
Implementation of the plan
Monitoring of progress
Modification
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