The Information-Processing Approach.

The Information-Processing Approach.

1. The information-processing approach likens human processing to that of a computer, with the focus on the study of cognitive processes such as perception, attention, memory and problem solving.

   • Comparison with Piaget.
     • The information-processing approach to cognitive development is sometimes described as a neo-Piagetian approach because, in a similar way to Piaget, it specifies key changes in the way information is processed as children develop.
       • However, information-processing theorists differ from Piaget as they do not agree that these changes reflect qualitatively different stages in the way that children think. Instead they see the changes as quantitative ones that lead to increased cognitive efficiency which affects the way that children approach cognitive tasks.

2. Bee (1997) identifies four changes in information processing with age:

   • Increased processing capacity (including memory capacity).
   • Increased processing efficiency.
   • The development of rules for solving problems.
   • The development of metacognition (awareness of own cognitive abilities).

3. Since the 1960s, information-processing theorists have carried out many experiments to investigate children's cognitive abilities.

   • One of the earliest observations of differences in the way in which adults and children use their memories was made by Favell et al. (1966).
     • RESEARCH CARD: Flavell et al. (1966).
   • EVALUATIONS.
     • In follow-up research it was found that younger children who were taught to use rehearsal could then recall as well as the older children (Keeney et al. 1967).
       • This suggests that older children's memories are no better than the memories of younger children, but that they just use them more efficiently.
     • Flavell's study has been criticised because the children may have been using rehearsal covertly without moving their lips. McGilly and Siegler (1990) carried out a similar experiment but interviewed the children afterwards.
       • Many children who had not shown lip movements during the experiment reported that they had rehearsed when interviewed.
     • Knowing a memory strategy does not necessarily mean that an individual will use it. Adults are often aware of memory-enhancing techniques such as organisation and elaboration, but do not always use them because they require effort and commitment.

4. Siegler's Research into Problem-Solving Strategies.

   • RESEARCH CARD: Siegler (1976).
   • Siegler (1976) proposed that cognitive development involves the acquisition of a set of rules or strategies for solving problems.
     • With age these rules become increasingly complex and can be applied to a range of different problems.
       • He studied the different strategies that children used in a balance-scale task.
   • Siegler's (1996) overlapping waves theory of problem solving suggests that children have a selection of problem-solving strategies available to them, but will choose to use one in preference to another at any one time.
     • These strategies compete against each other and some will prove more adaptive (useful) than others.
       • Feedback is a very important element in this process as it enables the child to decide about the effectiveness of each strategy.
         • Eventually the more adaptive strategies survive and the less adaptive ones die out, in a similar way to evolution.
     • This view of problem-solving has enabled computer simulations of the development of cognitive processes which has been tested and compared to children's performances on problem-solving tasks.
   • EVALUATIONS.
     • It is important to note how Siegler found that when children are given practice and feedback at the balance-scale task they will start to use more sophisticated strategies.
       • Thus, although there is a sequence of change to cognitive development, this sequence depends on the individual child's experience rather than on age.
     • Siegler's research involved the use of rigorous methods and systematic hypothesis testing, unlike the clinical interview procedure used by Piaget.

5. EVALUATIONS.

   • Separate components of cognitive functioning, such as memory and attention, have been analysed in detail.
   • Numerous experimental studies have yielded extensive insights into how cognitive processing changes with age.
   • Findings from information-processing research have been used to develop new teaching techniques.
     • For example, schools now encourage children to reflect on their own mental processing to enable the development of metacognitive awareness.
   • There are opportunities for combining the findings from information-processing research with studies of the psychophysiological changes that occur with age.
     • For example, exploring changes in the brain that might parallel increased memory capacity with age.
   • Findings from information-processing research are sometimes disparate and do not seem to offer a coherent, rounded theory of children's cognitive development in the same way as Piaget did.
   • Use of computer analogy means that information-processing researchers focus mostly on the logical aspects of cognitive processing and less on the emotional, creative and social aspects that also affect thinking.