Modules 6-1 & 6-3

Information Processing

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

Adult Memory

Working memory Peak at 45? Decline at 57?

Processing speed?

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

Adult Memory: Summary & Review Declines in

Processing speed Working memory Episodic memory

Negative Influences on Memory in Older Adulthood Physical declines Anxiety & depression Beliefs about losing memory

important Attitudes & feelings important

(e.g., low self-efficacy) Good health will reduce, but not

eliminate declines