Chapter 8: Information-Processing Approaches to Cognitive Development Module 8.1 An Introduction to Information Processing Module 8.2 Memory Module 8.3 Academic Skills Children and Their Development, 3/e by Robert Kail

8.1 An Introduction to Information Processing Basic Features of the Information-Processing Approach How Information Processing Changes with Development Comparing Information Processing and Piaget’s Theory

8.1 Basic Features of the Information-Processing Approach People and computers are both symbol processors Distinction between hardware and software Hardware includes sensory, working, and long-term memory Software is task specific

Mental Hardware 8.1: Basic Features of the Information-Processing Approach

8.1 How Information Processing Changes with Development More efficient strategies Increased working memory capacity More effective inhibitory and executive processes Increased automatic processing Increased speed of processing

Increased Working Memory 8.1: How Information Processing Changes with Development

8.1 Comparing Information Processing and Piaget’s Theory Piaget presented a single, comprehensive theory Information processing is a general approach that encompasses many specific theories Piaget emphasized qualitative change Information processing emphasizes gradual change

Abrupt vs. Gradual Change 8.1: Comparing Information Processing and Piaget’s Theory

8.2 Memory Origins of Memory Strategies for Remembering Knowledge and Memory

8.2 Origins of Memory Infants remember, forget, and can be prompted to remember things that they’ve forgotten Improvements in memory are related to growth in the brain Amygdala and hippocampus are related to the initial storage of memories Frontal cortex is related to retrieval of stored memories

8.2 Strategies for Remembering Memory strategies: activities that improve remembering Preschoolers use simple strategies like touching an object Older children and adolescents use rehearsal, organization, and elaboration Metacognition improves with age

Metacognitive Knowledge 8.2: Strategies for Remembering

8.2 Knowledge and Memory Knowledge helps to organize memory but can distort our recall Scripts are memory structures that describe the sequence in which events occur People’s memory of their own lives is autobiographical memory Infantile amnesia denotes forgetting of events from early in life Preschoolers’ testimony can be distorted by adults’ suggestions

Effects of Knowledge on Memory 8.2: Knowledge and Memory

Network of Knowledge 8.2: Knowledge and Memory

Stereotype and Suggestion Conditions of Sam Stone Study 8.2: Knowledge and Memory

Effects of Stereotypes and Suggestions on Memory 8.2: Knowledge and Memory

8.3 Academic Skills Reading Writing Knowing and Using Numbers

8.3 Reading Prereading skills: knowing letters and letter sounds (phonological awareness) Sounding out and whole word recognition are used in reading Changes in working memory, knowledge, monitoring, and reading strategies improve comprehension

8.3 Writing Older writers have more to tell Older writers know how to organize their writing (knowledge telling vs knowledge transforming strategies) Older writers are better able to deal with the mechanical requirements of writing Older writers are better able to revise

8.3 Knowing and Using Numbers Infants can distinguish small quantities such as two and three Early counting follows 3 basic principles Children use many different strategies to add and subtract Math skills lower in US than other countries In other countries, children spend more time in school, have more homework, parents have higher standards, & parents emphasize effort

Distinguishing Small Quantities 8.3: Knowing and Using Numbers

Average Math Scores by Country 8.3: Knowing and Using Numbers