Transcript Cognitive Processing

Cognitive Development:
From: Steyvers, M., &
Tenenbaum, J. (2005). Cognitive
Science, 29(1), 41-78.
Cognitive Processing
Perspective
Competing approach to Piaget, less
attention paid to Developmental issues
Computer analogy
Input
• Observed
Environment
• Encoding
Manipulation
• “Mind”
• Recode,
decode,
store
Output
•Observed
Actions
•Retrieve,
response
A Model of the Human Information
Processing System (Figure 7-1)
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
Key Ideas in IPT
• Information Processing Theory – focuses on the
specific ways in which people think about (“process”) the
information they receive
• Input from the environment provides the raw material for
cognitive processing
– Sensory register – component of memory that holds incoming
information in an unanalyzed from for a very brief time (2-3
seconds or less)
• Human memory includes two storage mechanisms in
addition to sensory register
– Working memory – component of memory that enables people
to actively think about and process a small amount of information
– Long- term memory – component of memory that holds
knowledge and skills for a relatively long period of time
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
Key Ideas in IPT (cont’d)
• Attention is essential to the learning process
• A variety of cognitive processes are involved in
moving information from working memory to
LTM
• People control how they process information
– Central executive – component of the human
information processing system that oversees the flow
of information throughout the system
• Cognitive development involves the gradual
changes in various components of the IP system
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
A. Sensory Register detects visual,
•
•
•
•
auditory, haptic (touch), smell, taste,
temperature, pain, body position
information
filters out much of the world's potential
information
limited capacity
seconds before decay
unconscious
B. Working memory
• Encoding: recasts sensory information
into meaningful representations suitable
for manipulation, using strategies like
– rehearsal
– organization
– elaboration
• Limited in capacity
• decays quickly, 15 to 30 seconds, if not
processed further
Encoding/Learning Strategies
– Rehearsal – attempting to learn something by
repeating it over and over; repetition
– Organization – attempting to learn something by
identifying relationships among pieces of information
as a way of categorizing them
– Elaboration – embellishing on new information based
on what you already know (using prior knowledge)
• Environmental factors, e.g., culture, affect the
kinds of strategies that children develop
– Children are more likely to use effective learning
strategies when teachers and other adults encourage
their use, or when it is culturally meaningful
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
C. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
• The ability to remember information in LTM appears very
early and improves with age
• Children increasingly have conscious awareness of the
past
– Infantile amnesia – general inability to recall past events
during the early years of life
• The amount of knowledge stored in LTM increases many
times over
– Knowledge base – one’s knowledge about specific topics and
the world in general
• Children’s knowledge about the world becomes
increasingly integrated
– Schemas – tightly integrated set of ideas about a specific object
or situation
– Scripts – schema that involves a predictable sequence of
events related to a common activity
• Children’s growing knowledge base facilitates learning
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
Thinking and Reasoning
• Thought increasingly makes use of symbols
– Symbols – mental entity that represents an external object or
event, often without reflecting its perceptual and behavioral
qualities
• Logical thinking abilities improve with age
– Some logical thinking is evident in infancy
– Perceive cause and effect relationships as young
as 6 months old
– Reasoning is still influenced by personal motives and biases
• Gestures
– Sometimes foreshadow the emergence of more sophisticated
thinking and reasoning (e.g., Conservation task)
– Appear to provide a way for children to experiment with cognitive
ideas
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
D. Central Executive
Directs flow of information; coordinates influence
of LTM onto STM, monitors effectiveness of
strategies (metacognition)
1. Attention
2. Automatization
3. Conceptually-driven processes
4. How knowledge is represented (depth of
processing, use of control processes)
Metacognitive Awareness
• Metacognitive awareness – extent to which one is able
to reflect upon the nature of one’s own thinking
processes
– Awareness of the existence of thought (age 3)
– Awareness about one’s own thought processes
• Although preschoolers have the words know, remember, and forget
in their vocabulary, they do not fully grasp these concepts until
elementary and secondary school years
– Awareness of limitations of memory
• Children are overly optimistic about memory
• Optimism of memory abilities is beneficial for cognitive development
– Knowledge about effective learning and memory strategies
• Children learn more effective memory strategies and how to apply
them as they get older
• Repetition and elaboration are increasingly understood and used
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
Greta, Age 4
“This race car won the Bronze medal
before and now he is dreaming of winning
the Gold or Silver medal”
Greta, Age 4
“This pirate is laughing
and saying that he has a
thousand dollars for
anyone who can catch
him”
Social Construction of Memory
• Adults help children reconstruct events that the two of
them previously shared and stored in their LTMs
• Benefits of talking about past events
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–
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–
Children are more likely to remember events if they talk about it
Children learn the important things to remember
Children learn the appropriate values for their culture
Children learn to use a narrative structure for story telling
• Downside to talking about memories
– Children are susceptible to leading questions
Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Child Development and Education, third edition
Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
Collaborative Learning
Blend of social constructivism and information
processing approach
• Co-regulated learning – process through
which an adult and child share responsibility for
directing various aspects of a child’s learning
• Community of Learners (Bruner, Brown &
Campione)
– Creating a school environment where children learn
to think deeply about serious matters
Key learning principles
for a Community of Learners
(Meece, Child & Adolescent Development for Educators, 2002, p. 195)
• Agency Both teachers and learners
routinely engage in the search for
meaning and understanding
• Collaboration Both teachers and students
must share in developing and sustaining
the community of learning. Teachers help
guide students to deeper levels of
understanding, but learning is a shared
and joint activity; also collaboration
among students
• Reflection The classroom is designed to
stimulate active exchange of ideas and
discourse; discussion, critique, self
monitoring of comprehension
• Deep discipline inquiry Students engage
in disciplined inquiry on a central theme
that can sustain in-depth research over
time (research, evidence, seeking expert
advice, sharing results