modules 6-1 & 6-3 information processing. not a single, unified theory investigates: attention...
TRANSCRIPT
Information Processing Not a single, unified theory
Investigates:
Attention Memory Thinking Metacognition: Knowledge of when
and how to use strategies to think, remember, and problem-solve.
Principles of Change
Automaticity No conscious effort required
Strategy Construction Self-modification Metacognition Gradual change
Speed of Mental Processing
Rises dramatically across childhood Young adult comparison study
10 year olds were 1.8 times slower 12 year olds were 1.5 times slower 15 year olds were the same
Declines from the 40’s
Experience or biological maturation? myelination
Speed of Mental Processing
Does processing speed matter? May help you think better May help you learn faster May be compensated for by
experience ***correlational study showed that
lower IQ scores were associated with an earlier death
Attention
Habituation in Infancy
Long-lookers vs. short-lookers
Infants with brain damage do not habituate well
Attention in Childhood
Control improves with age 10-month olds more distractible than
26 month olds Preschoolers may watch TV for half an
hour at a time Anderson and others (1985) visual
attention drastically improves in the preschool years
Selective Attention Older & more socially advantaged
children are more focused & less distractible
Ruff & Hobart (1996) Ability to pay attention in preschool is related to achievement, relationship & social skills
Related to school readiness
Peer rejection and aggressive behavior are related to lack of ability to control attention
Attention to Salience vs. Relevance
Preschoolers pay attention to whatever stands out
After age 6 or 7, there is more cognitive control
Older children shift attention better Older adults may begin to lose the
ability to shift attention (driving)
Memory
Constructed (& Reconstructed)
Guided by schemas – existing knowledge & understanding
Misinformation Effect (can be distorted)/source amnesia Bugs Bunny study
Types of Memory
Implicit Procedural emotional, conditioned, reflexive
Explicit – (declarative) episodic semantic
Development of Memory
Rovee-Collier Babies have detailed memory at 2 ½
months Ties a baby’s ankle to a mobile. They
kick and move the mobile. What do they do if placed in the crib weeks later?
They kick, but only if the mobile is the same.
Infants 2-6 months can carry memory to 1 ½ - 2 years.
Is it only implicit memory?
Memory in Infancy
Other researchers -
Babies do not show explicit memory until the second half of the first year of life.
Explicit (conscious) memory improves substantially during the second year.
Infantile Amnesia
No permanent long-term memory before age 3, little in pre-school (infantile amnesia).
May have to do with lack of enough development in the hippocampus and/or pre-frontal lobes
Children’s Short-Term Memory
Memory span in digits
2 digits 2-3 year olds 5 digits 7 year olds 6 ½ digits 13 year olds
(Related to speed of repetition)
Children’s Long-term Memory - Eyewitnesses
There are age differences in susceptibility to suggestion.
There are also individual differences (low self-concept, low support from parents).
Interview techniques can produce substantial distortions.
Long-term Memory Strategies
Rehearsing Organizing Elaboration (Thinking about it) Personal relevance Images
Children’s Long-term Memory
Increase strategy use with age Fuzzy-trace theory
Using gist vs. verbatim Affected by Knowledge base
Schema elaboration Chase & Chi
Metamemory (Use of Strategies) Improves During Childhood
Ages 5-6 know that Familiar items are easier to remember Short lists are easier than long ones Recognition is easier than recall Forgetting becomes more likely over
time
Metamemory (Use of Strategies) Improves During Childhood
At Ages 5-6, do not know that related items are easier to remember Gist is easier than verbatim
Inflated opinion of their memory abilities
Facts & Findings
Young adults have better episodic memory than older ones
Among older adults, older memories are less accurate than more recent ones
Older adults take longer to retrieve semantic memory
Facts & Findings
Implicit memory is less likely to be affected by aging
Source amnesia gets worse (source memory declines) in older adulthood
Prospective memory (remembering to do something) Time-based poorer than event-based