Information Processing Theory and Approach

Are you aware of the intricate neuro-psychological process behind how your students (or almost anyone) discover new ideas and information? That's the question that Information Processing Theory aims to explain. It dives into the intricate mechanism of perceiving, recording, and processing information in our brains. It also retrieves it whenever needed.

Find out more about the theory and ways you can use it in the creation of online courses that help your students. Let's start with a brief overview of where the process began.

Skip ahead:

•    Brief history of Information Processing Theory
•    Key concepts in Information Processing Theory
•    Where does it all occur inside the brain?
•    Students should be aware of the online content for your course
•    Fundamental information processing techniques that will help students to remember better.
•    Limitations of Information Processing Theory in online learning
•    Strategies for making information processing theory work better for online learning
•    Humanize the theory of information processing in order to develop online courses with a human touch

Brief history of Information Processing Theory

The 1950s were the time when psychologists realized that computers held the key to understanding how our minds work. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman laid down the basics of how humans use short-term memory and learn things. Basing their work on this foundational design, two popular theories of the theory of information processing arose - The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the three phases of information processing, comprising sensory memory, short-term memory (working memory) and long term memory. The focus is on the importance of attention and elaborate rehearsal behaviors that lead to data being stored in long-term memory. It is based on the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is based upon these ideas and describes the way we deal with language and spatial patterns.

Do you have a lot of psychological terminology? Don't worry! We have combined aspects of these theories to aid you in understanding how we humans process information. Let's begin understanding that by exploring how humans are able to process information in daily situations while examining all of these processes in detail.

Concepts at the heart of Information Processing Theory

As an educator of creators, it's great to know the basics of information processing.

Let's try it with the following example

If you're on an area that is crowded and are exposed to a variety of sights, sounds and odors. There are also people who rub your shoulders when you're unfortunate enough to encounter large crowds. In order to avoid the hustle and bustle You decide to go to a place you know is calm and tranquil. You also remember that they sell the best coffee and croissants available in this part of the town.

It's information processing theory working and in actual life. Let's see how:

1. It is possible to feel various stimulations (people walking around, someone touching your shoulder, a car racing across the road and so on. - sensation. A stimulus is any input from outside (or external)
2. You perceive this place as crowded (perception is the way we interpret what we perceive).
3. Through your experiences in the past (long term episodic memory) You associate this particular situation with being unpleasant and possibly dangerous (being pushed around - the past associations)
4. Thus, you can recall a place that had previously provided you with comfort (another chain of memory will result in you retrieving the information regarding the tranquil cafe as well as its croissants, which is a form of the semantic memory).
5. The memory is activated, and walk into the cafe (judging/analyzing and making a choice. The walk to the cafe is an example of procedural memory).

    First, you sense your environment    

Human beings receive information, called "stimulus" through the five senses: smell, sight, touch, (hearing), and the sense of taste. Sixth sense that relates to the body's position, movement, and balancing the vestibular sense exists.

Senses and the associated sense organs

• Vision - Eyes
• Audio - Ears
• Touch Skin
• Taste - Tongue
• Aroma - Nose
• Vestibular sense - Ears and other components of the nervous system.

The sense organs in your body convert the real world information into electrical signals the brain processes these and interprets them as data which you recognize at a conscious level. The interpretation of what you see happens due to past associations (similar information stored in your mind, which you are able to recollect and connect).

Note for creators: Unless you use augmented reality or virtual reality within your lesson content I would suggest that you primarily employ inputs (stimuli) that are related to visual (reading texts or watching videos) as well as music (voice as background music).

    Sensing leads to perception.

The sense organs detects stimulus from the outside and transforms the signals they receive into electrical signals that are perceived in various parts within the brain. Sensory processing takes place within the organs of sense, and perception takes place in the brain. People with different perceptual and learning disorders may find it difficult to process information easily.

Attention to authors: If you are planning to design your content in a way that is disabled-friendly, you may want to consider accessible design practices. Some examples of accessible design include avoiding uneven spacing of words and paragraphs that are long, breaking them into shorter paragraphs, and ensuring enough white space.

    If the information being perceived is processed (encoded) the information is transferred to memory.    

Memory is an umbrella concept that encompasses a range of different components of cognitive functioning. It starts by storing the information for a period of time (sensory as well as working memory) before transferring it to long-term storage through consolidation (encoding).

Sensory memory lasts between two and three seconds. If you ignore the sensation and do not feel it, you will never enter short-term memory. Researchers have found that short-term memory can hold about seven pieces of information over an interval of between 15 and 30 minutes. Through practice, your brain is able to store this information after which it deteriorates or is lost.

When you practice, your brain goes through a process referred to as encode, which causes the data to be transferred into long-term memory. When it is transferred to long-term memory it is possible to retrieve the data at any point provided you do not let it go through a process of decay or interruption. The term "long-term memory" can refer to what you saw a few minutes ago or something that happened a long time ago. It can go to the time of your youth.

Note for creators: Rehearsal typically is used to facilitate rote learning in educational contexts. We know that most students find rote learning basic, and it is not a good strategy to learn complex ideas and abstract knowledge.

The various kinds of memory that are long-term include:

1. The term "explicit memory" refers to that which is available to you consciously. If someone asks you what the capital city of Great Britain is, you can easily say it's London. Hence explicit memories can also be called declarative memory. Declarative memory can further be subdivided into:

• Memory that is episodic Memory of specific events which occurred in your life. For instance, visiting a friend's house in your childhood
• Memory that is semantic - The ability to remember things that you have learned about the world. This includes when the official declaration of World War 2 (September 1 September 1939).

1. Implicit memory is kept in the long-term memory of your brain, but it is linked to movement and performance. Examples include being able to swim, and recalling how to drive a vehicle after a long gap, and so on.

    Attention makes memory last longer, and improves the way you learn    

Though our sense organs absorb lots of data but they aren't registered in our minds unless you pay attention to the information. They just get stored as "sensory memory," after perception, and will last for only a couple of seconds (between half a second to 3 seconds).

Focusing here means focusing your attention on a specific stimulus in the presence of different stimuli. For instance, you enter the café of your choice and order the type of croissant you like even though there are numerous other items on the menu.

Invoking the scenario of a busy street, your mind could have recognized the presence of different individuals. Yet, you may have not paid attention enough to keep their faces in mind. In the end, the data associated with the faces of each individual has deteriorated and is lost forever.

What happens to it? occur inside the brain?

As a creator educator, you might be wondering how information you provide to your students is processed in their brains. Baddeley and the Hitch Model of Working Memory offers a simple solution to this.

They've explained that the frontal lobe (a component that is located in the brain) acts as the processor that encodes information and retrieved. The various kinds of memories are stored in different areas within the brain. According to Baddeley and Hitch:

• Auditory information (information in the form of sound, mostly recognised as language, music, or a variety of other sounds) is stored within the sound loop known as the phonological loop.
• Phonological loop consists of the phonological storage, in which data is kept for a brief period of time, and the articulatory rehearsal process in which the brain practice auditory information to be stored for a longer period of time.
• The Visuospatial Sketch Pad is the area of the brain which stores visual and spatial information such as shapes, designs, images, etc.
• Episodic buffer is believed to increase the capacity of the mind to encode, store, and retrieve information by connecting different brain regions that aid in information processing.

Let's now apply what we've learned about information processing to online learning environments.

Students should pay attention to the content of your online courses

In the context of lesson designing or making modules, think about it in this manner. If you don't create your videos or slides attractive enough, the students are likely to ignore them and go onto the next. The students take a look at the slide video (sensation occurs) but do not perceive it for the length of time needed to retain the information in the short-term memory of their brains. Leave alone practicing it to be stored in long-term memory - it disappears completely from the memories of sensory. Hence, sustaining their attention is the most important thing.

You need to factor in the fact that your child may be daydreaming, distracted from your content. These factors can hinder the process of paying attention to the information that needs to be absorbed and stored in long term memory. Consequently, ensuring you create material that keeps the attention of your students is crucial.

  Here's what you could do:  

• Encourage them to stop every ten to fifteen minutes. Studies show human attention diminishes in the first 15 minutes.
• So, plan your lessons to be broken down into segments of fifteen minutes or less. There is no need to create videos or lecture lasting only ten minutes. Instead, you need to provide your students with little games, activities or even chillout time.
• Develop more engaging online learning environments for learning. The reason will be explained later on.

Fundamental information processing techniques to help your students remember better.

When information is saved in short-term memory the information can be shifted to long-term memory or be deleted. Practice and repetition are the keys to retaining data for long periods in the long-term memory. This is why it's crucial to create lesson plans in order your students are given enough time to study and then repeat the information that is retained inside their brains. It is essential to do this in a matter of the timeframe of a few minutes. So, at the conclusion of any short class that lasts a few minutes you should encourage students to go over, practice in a rehearsal or practice. Rote learning helps ensure that what they've learned is stored for long-term memory.

Once something is stored in the long-term memory of your brain and is retrieved later when prompted. However, the success of memory retrieval depends on how eagerly the student learned the subject (were they attentive enough or was the material you taught relevant enough, etc. ).

As you can see from the previous explanation that learning mostly takes place due to how we view information and how we relate it to our previous knowledge as well as the need to pay attention.

But is it really all that easy?

Lesser-than-average limits of Information Processing Theory in online learning

Human beings aren't computer systems. Although drawing analogies between the brain of a human and the computer is tempting but they're different. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the role played by motivation and emotions in how we perceive information and remember things. Both are vital for learning and remembering the information we've learned.

The theory assumes that brains process information linearly -- that information is interpreted, sensed then stored, processed (encoded) then stored and finally, retrieved. This is referred to as serial processing. It is the same thing that computers do.

The brain, however, can be able to process information in parallel, which means you can simultaneously process different kinds of information. The ability to multitask of our brains does not match what a computer is able to do. Thus, although the theory of information processing is accurate and describes how we sense, perceive, process, and store information, it does not consider emotions and the non-linear way in which our mind works.

The students you teach have thoughts that they are motivated by their desires, feelings, and needs which you could or might not have considered when creating the content of your class. Therefore, it's important to realize that you are instructing human learners and not computers. The most effective way to address this issue is to develop online learning environments that are stimulating.

Now, let's examine ways to bring motivation, emotional engagement and engagement with others to the mix and leverage information processing theory even better for the perfect online course.

Strategies to make more efficient the use of theory about information processing to facilitate online learning

    Motivate your students to focus on the task at hand.    

Why would someone learn something even if they aren't interested in? You must be able to sense an intrinsic determination or desire to enroll for the course and then remain committed to completing.

Motivation drives them to focus on your course material which results improved information processing (encoding) and better ability to retrieve information. Also, if your student isn't motivated to be a learner, then even an excellent course may be unable to register in their minds.

Motivation is a key factor in information processing as well. You must be able to be attentive to outside stimuli.

• Your job as a creator educator is to maintain this enthusiasm.
• Be aware that motivation cannot exist in a vacuum. It is essential to feel valued and receive feedback that is positive and be accepted by others to be motivated to continue working on something. Remember your friends who encouraged you to do something whenever you felt down or needed to be better in some thing? This applies to learning as well.

Interpersonal and motivational relationships are connected. Let's look at how this is played out in social information processing theory.

    Encourage social interaction during learning    

Although one-on-one teaching is effective, humans learn better when they are in a group. That's why learning in traditional settings is always conducted in groups or classrooms because learning with others is much more fun (and efficient).

Social information processing theorem partly explains how people communicate with each with each other through computers like an online learning platform.

Humans also learn through models and observation. That is, they mimic the actions of others. In this case, you, the creator educator, play the role of being a model, and your students mimic your behaviour. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, emphasized that learning takes place within social contexts and that it is impossible to eliminate "social" aspects of the process of learning.

With this in mind it is vital to

• Create online group activities
• Inspire students to engage with one another on forums and discuss their experiences.
• Make collaboration and social media participation essential components of your course plan.
• Use social tools to exchange ideas, that can be used as a type of rehearsal
• Encourage positive feedback from peers (other students) that act as positive reinforcement. To do this, you can ask your students to evaluate the work of their peers positively.

    Make use of specific cognitive strategies for achieving goals    

The cognitive strategies you employ are typically task-specific. Therefore, you need to help your students work on the subject directly. A few of the cognitive techniques that can be used in online learning are note-taking, repetition, contextual understanding, and the use of mnemonics. (A memory aid is one that allows you to recall or access information stored in your memory)

Like: VIBGYOR is an acronym that refers to the seven colors of the rainbow which are: violet, indigo blue green, yellow red, and orange. In addition to acronyms, there are many other kinds of mnemonics too including flashcards, categorizing things into different categories, etc., can all help your pupils recall what they've learnt quickly.

    Facilitate high-level processing of information by using metacognitive strategies    

Researchers have suggested that there is something called "metacognition," which means "thinking about thinking." In practice, when you rehearse or try to recall the things you've forgotten or use techniques that assist others in learning or remember (such as teaching with a purpose) You are participating with a metacognitive form.

The year 1987 was the year that A.L. Brown began to discuss metacognition for learning. Through the years it has morphed quite a bit.

in the context of online learning Here are a few of the most effective metacognitive strategies.

• Advance organizers: Inspire your students to reflect on your lesson through sharing calendars of class in advance. This will help your students know what is expected and also connect it to information they already know.
• Self-planning: Encourage your students to plan their work and the way they'll structure their assignments. This gives them extra room to "think about the things they're learning" - metacognition.
• Self-monitoring scales: Students self-rating their scores are an excellent way to understand where your students need help. Create online forms that help students monitor their progress at the end of every session or week, at your convenience.
• Self-evaluation can be done regularly scheduled or at the end of the program. Because online courses are mainly taken up by self-motivated individuals, it is important that students see the results.

Alongside self-evaluation, you can use associations to assist students in learning and remember what they learn. In order to make this method more effective, you must know what your students already are aware of. So,

• Before you enroll someone in an educational program, evaluate their current level of understanding to ascertain if they are a good candidate for the course.
• If not, and you're launching a course for beginners ensure that you develop your material to allow them to connect the lessons you offer to things they know. It means you have to help them in the process of encoding.

It is possible to use methods like image, chunking and the elaboration.

• Break your modules into smaller pieces Use engaging polls, Q&As, online debates, and peer support to keep your students entertained.
• Encourage your students to form associations with their previous knowledge by providing information in a manner that's simple to comprehend. This will help students use images to help students learn and retain information.
• In addition, your online class must encourage the student to participate in the content active. This process, also known as elaboration is vital to keep learners engaged and form associations with existing skills to acquire new knowledge.

Even though they are all cognitive and metacognitive methods, it is impossible to ignore the significance of motivation, emotions and theories of social learning.

    Add social engagement and feelings in the mix    

A majority of your students enroll in your class because they are unable to physically attend your classes due to different reasons. Learning environments online provide a different option to traditional learning, and can increase engagement in many cases. But it's important to make your online learning environment lively and engaging. One of the most important factors is using social-affective methods, which require interpersonal communication and emotions. Be aware that "affect" is a reference to emotions.

Here's how you can do it:

• Be relatable for your students to gain knowledge through modelling. Create feelings of wonder joy, enthusiasm, contentment, joy, excitement, surprise, etc. It's fairly easy to trigger these feelings in your students.
• Gamification can help your students feel happy and satisfied as they complete certain levels of completion.
• The giving of badges, certificates, or other forms of reinforcement positive can help you install joy.
• If you give an unexpected discount to students who are performing well You combine excitement and surprise. This makes learners more enthusiastic to continue learning.
• Polling can be used to develop games and tests after every 15 minutes, to keep your students engaged and allow them to talk about their knowledge in forums.
• Since children are becoming more comfortable to social media so it is logical to include social media in learning as well.

Humanize information processing theory to make online courses that are relatable

The theory of information processing helps to understand how we store and acquire new knowledge in our minds, using our sense organs as well as the brain. Although this model is accurate as regards how sensation & perception, and memory work, it does not describe social learning, nor the role of motivation as well as emotions.

Furthermore, the human brain is very complex and cannot be reduced to the same way that a computer functions. In your role as instructors, it's essential to maintain the students' natural thoughts and desires in their minds. By creating an engaging online learning environment and considering human limitations, you can develop a successful online course which leaves an impression on the learners.

gives you various tools to help you create content for your course that is engaging and social. It helps you create courses that are based on information processing models yet recognizes that your students are thinking and feeling human beings, who enjoy interacting with each other while they learn. It offers powerful social engagement capabilities that make it easier for you to create group learning modules and encourage lively discussions among your students.

Through humanizing online learning, lets you engage with your students intellectually through a fun and engaging way. If you want to know more about how could help you develop educational modules that draw on the principles of psychology, get in touch with us today.