Information Processing Theory and Approach

Do you understand the complicated neural-psychological mechanism that determines how your students (or just about anybody) discover new ideas and knowledge? This is what Information Processing Theory aims to understand. It delve into the complex mechanism of perceiving, recording, and processing information in our brains and retrieving it whenever needed.

Read on to learn about the concept, and explore ways to implement it into online courses to help your students. We'll start by taking a short look at where it all began.

Skip ahead:

•    An overview of Information Processing Theory
•    Key concepts in Information Processing Theory
•    What happens to it? occur in the brain?
•    Students should be aware of your online course content
•    Fundamental information processing techniques for helping your students learn better.
•    The Limits of Information Processing Theory in online learning
•    Strategies to help the theory of information processing work better to facilitate online learning
•    Humanize information processing theory to make online courses that are relatable

Brief history of Information Processing Theory

In the 1950s, psychologists realized that computers held the most important clue to understanding how the human mind works. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman set out the basics of how humans use short-term memory and learn things. Basing their work on this foundational model, two well-known models of information processing theory eventually emerged namely the Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

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

Are you overwhelmed by the jargon of psychology? Don't worry! We've merged aspects of these theories to help you understand exactly what we humans do to process information. We can begin to understand this by exploring how humans process information in everyday situations as well as analyzing each of these functions in depth.

Key concepts in Information Processing Theory

As an educator of creators, it's extremely helpful to be aware of the various aspects of data processing.

Let's do that with the following example

Imagine walking down the streets that are crowded, and you get exposed to an array of sounds, sights and odors. Some people may rub your shoulders in case you're unlucky to bump into unruly crowds. To avoid this chaos and noise it is suggested to stroll into a cafe that you are sure is peaceful and peaceful. It is also a good idea to keep in mind that they have the best coffee and croissants in the area of town.

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

1. It is possible to feel various stimulations (people moving around, someone brushing against your shoulder, a vehicle racing across the road or a car speeding by, etc. - sensation. A stimulus is an external input or information)
2. The place you see is perceived to be crowded (perception is how we interpret what we perceive).
3. Based on your previous experiences (long term episodic memory) You associate this situation to be unsafe and uncomfortable (being being pushed around, past association)
4. So, you remember an area that previously offered you comfort (another chain of associations results in retrieving details about the tranquil cafe as well as its croissants, which is a form of semantic memory).
5. It is your memory that you act upon when you enter the cafe (judging/analyzing and making a choice. Walking towards the cafe is the procedural memory).

    First, you sense your environment    

Humans are able to receive information also known as "stimulus" via five senses: smell touch, vision, auditory (hearing) and tasting. A sixth sense, which relates to the body's position in motion, balance, and position the vestibular sense is present.

senses and the related sense organs

• Vision Eyes
• Audio - Ears
• Touch Skin
• Taste - Tongue
• Smell - nose
• Vestibular sense, ear as well as various other parts of the nervous system.

When your sense organs convert actual information into electrical data, your brain processes them and interprets them as data which you recognize at an unconscious level. What you perceive occurs due to previous associations (similar information that is stored within your brain, that is able to recall and draw a connection).

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

    The process of perception is the result of sensing.

The sense organs reacts to different stimulus from the outside and converts these signals into electrical signals, which can be detected by different parts of the brain. The process of sensing takes place inside the organs that sense while perception occurs inside the brain. People with different perceptual and learning disorders may find it difficult to absorb information efficiently.

Attention to writers: If you're planning to make your lesson content accessible to people with disabilities, it is advisable to look into accessible design methods. Examples of accessible design include making sure that words are spaced evenly or paragraphs, breaking lengthy ones into shorter paragraphs, and ensuring enough white space.

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

Memory is an umbrella term for many different aspects of cognitive functioning. It starts by storing information for a short while (sensory as well as working memory) and transferring it into longer-term storage via consolidation (encoding).

Sensory memory can last from one and three seconds. If you don't pay attention to the experience, the perception does not make it into short-term memory. Researchers have found that short-term memory can hold approximately seven information items for an interval of between 15 and 30 seconds. When you practice it, your brain can retain this information, after which it deteriorates or gets lost.

During rehearsal, your brain performs a process called encode, which causes the data to be transferred into long-term memory. After it's transferred to a long-term storage it is possible to retrieve your information anytime provided you don't let it decay or subject it to interference. The term "long-term memory" can refer to something you perceived just a moment ago, or something that happened a long time ago -- dating back to your childhood.

Note for creators: Rehearsal is usually performed as rote learning within pedagogical contexts. However, we are aware that the majority of students find rote learning basic in nature, which is why it's not the best way to learn complex ideas and abstract concepts.

The different kinds of long-term memory include:

1. Explicit memory - that which is available consciously. If you are asked by someone what the capital of Great Britain is, you can easily say it's London. Hence explicit memories are known as declarative memory. Declarative memory can further be divided into:

• The episodic memory - Memories of specific events that occurred during your life. For instance, going to a friend's home during childhood
• Memory that is semantic - The ability to remember things that you have learned about the world. For instance, when declaring World War 2 (September 1 September 1939).

1. Implicit memory - It is stored in your memory for the long term, however it also relates to performance and movement. Examples include being able to swim or remembering to drive your car after a long gap, or any other.

    Attention makes memory last longer, and learn better    

Though our sense organs absorb many kinds of information but they aren't registered inside our heads unless we are paying attention to the information. They just get stored as "sensory memory" following perception. They are only used for a short period of time (between one and three seconds).

Focusing here means focusing your attention to a certain event in the face of other stimuli. An example is when you enter the café of your choice and order the type of croissant you like, despite the presence of numerous other items on the menu.

Reinvoking the example of the crowding street, your brain may have perceived that there were many people. However, you may not have paid enough attention to keep their faces in mind. This is why the information related to their faces deteriorated and eventually, it's lost forever.

Where does it all take place inside the brain?

As an educator who creates, you may wonder how all the learning material you present to your students will be stored in their brains. Baddeley and the Hitch Model of Working Memory provides a clear answer to this.

The frontal lobe (a part of the brain) is the brain's processor that encodes information and later retrieved. There are various types of memories stored in different parts in the brain. According to Baddeley and Hitch:

• Information about the auditory system (information that is in the form of sounds, usually referred to as language, music, or other kinds of sound) is stored in the Phonological Loop.
• Phonological loop is made up of the phonological storage, in which information is held for a limited time as well as the articulatory rehearsal is where the brain practices auditory data to store for a long period of duration.
• The Visuospatial Sketch Pad is the part of the brain which stores spatial and visual information, including shapes, designs and images.
• Episodic buffer is believed to increase the capacity of the brain to encode, store and retrieve data by linking different brain regions that aid in information processing.

Let's now take what we've learned in the area of information processing in learning online environments.

Your students should pay attention to your online course content

When you are developing or designing modules, think about it this way. If you don't make your slides or videos attractive enough, your students are likely to ignore them and go onto the next. They take a look at the slide video (sensation happens) however they do not experience the content for long enough time to keep it in the short-term memory of their brains. Leave alone practicing it to become long-term storage the information is erased from their memories of sensory. Hence, sustaining their attention is of primary importance.

Consider the possibility that your student might be distracted, daydreaming, or bored with the content you provide. All these factors interfere with the ability of students to pay attention to the information that needs to be absorbed and stored in long term memory. Therefore, making sure you produce content that sustains your students' attention is vitally important.

  This is what you could do:  

• Urge them to have a break each 10 to 15 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. It is not necessary to develop videos or lecture lasting only ten minutes. Instead, you should give your students smaller activities, games or chillout sessions.
• Develop more engaging online learning environments for learning. We will explain why later on.

Fundamental information processing techniques that will help students to remember better.

After information has been stored in the short-term memory of your brain and is not accessed, it could be shifted to long-term memory or deleted. Practice and repetition are the keys to retaining data for long periods in long-term memory. This is why it's crucial to plan your lessons so that students have plenty of time to practise and re-experience what is stored in their working memory. This needs to take place in just a few the timeframe of a few minutes. Therefore, at the end of any short class that lasts a few minutes and encourage your pupils to practice, repeat the lesson in a rehearsal or practice. This helps in ensuring that the information they've processed is stored for long-term memory.

Once something is stored in long-term memory, it can be retrieved at a later time, if you are prompted. The success of memory retrieval depends on the level of interest with which a pupil was able to absorb the subject (were sufficiently attentive and did your material interesting enough, etc. ).

So it is clear from this explanation that learning mostly is a result of how we interpret information, as well as the way we connect it to the things we know already, and that we must be attentive.

But is it really so simple?

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

Human beings aren't computers. Although drawing analogies between the brain of a human and computers is appealing but they're different. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the importance of motivation or emotions in our perception of information or remember facts. Both are essential in learning and retaining the information we've learned.

The theory assumes that the brain processes information in a linear fashion -- information is perceived, sensed, stored, processed (encoded) and stored and finally, retrieved. This is referred to as sequential processing. It is the same thing that computers perform.

However, the brain can be able to process information in parallel, which means you can simultaneously process different kinds of information. The multitasking ability of our brains does not compare to what computers can accomplish. Therefore, even though the theory of information processing is accurate and describes how we sense, perceive, process, and store information, it does not consider emotions as well as the way in which our mind works.

The students you teach have thoughts, desires, and motivations that you might or may not recognize while designing the content of your class. Hence, it is essential to understand that you're teaching human students and not computer-generated students. One of the easiest ways to solve this problem is by creating online learning environments that are engaging.

Now, let's look at how you can include motivation, emotion as well as social interaction to your mix, and make use of information processing theories even more for the perfect online class.

Strategies for making the theory of information processing work better for online learning

    Motivate your students to pay attention    

What is the point of learning something even if they aren't interested in? It is essential that they have the drive or motivation to register to take your class, and then remain committed to completing.

Motivation drives them to be attentive to the material in your class, which results in better information processing (encoding), and superior information retrieval abilities. In other words, if your student is not motivated to study, an excellent course may be unable to register in their minds.

Motivation is a key factor in information processing as well. It is essential to be able by the external environment.

• Your role as an creator educator is to sustain that motivation.
• Always remember, motivation is not the absence of. One needs to feel appreciated, receive positive feedback, and feel socially accepted for motivation to keep doing something. Did you recall your buddies who encouraged you to do something in times of low motivation or needed to be better in certain things? It's the same for the process of learning too.

Motivation and interpersonal relationships have a lot in common. Now, let's explore the ways this is reflected in social information processing theory.

    Encourage social interaction during learning    

Despite the fact that one-to-one teaching is effective, humans learn better when they are within a group. That's why learning in traditional settings is always conducted in classes or with groups, since the learning experience with other people is more enjoyable (and efficient).

Social information processing Theory partly explains how individuals communicate with each with each other through computers for example, an online platform for learning.

Humans also learn through models and observation. That is, they mimic what others do. If you are your role as an educator is to assume the role of being a teacher, and students imitate your behavior. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, observed that most learning happens in interpersonal contexts, and we can't eliminate "social" in our learning.

With this thought in mind it is vital for you to

• Create online group activities
• Encourage students to interact with each other on forums and share their knowledge.
• Make collaboration and social media engagement essential parts of your curriculum structure.
• Utilize social media tools to exchange ideas, that can be used as a type of rehearsal
• Get positive feedback from your peers (other students) which acts as a reinforcement. To do this, you should have your students evaluate the work of their peers positively.

    Utilize specific cognitive strategies for achieving goals    

They are generally task-specific. This means you must help your students work on the subject immediately. Some of the cognitive strategies which you could employ when learning online include notes-taking, repetition, context understanding, and mnemonics. (A mnemonic is a tool that helps you recall or recall information from your memory)

For example: VIBGYOR is an acronym for the seven colors of the rainbow including violet, indigo blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Other than acronyms, there are other sorts of mnemonics as well like flashcards, categorizing things in categories and so on. All of them can help your students to recall what they've learnt quickly.

    Help with high-level information processing using metacognitive strategies    

Certain researchers have also proposed that there is something called "metacognition," which means "thinking about thinking." When you practice in rehearsal and try to recollect your mistakes, or engage in techniques that actively help others to learn or recall (such in teaching with a purpose), you are engaging with a metacognitive form.

In 1987, A.L. Brown initiated discussion around metacognition strategies for learning. In the course of time, it has developed somewhat.

in the context of online courses, here are some of the best metacognitive strategies:

• Advance organizers: Help your students to consider your lesson plan by sharing course calendars in advance. This will help your students know what is expected and connect it with information they already have.
• Self-planning: Urge your students to organize their work and the way they'll organize them. This allows them more time to "think about what they are learning" - metacognition.
• Self-monitoring scales: Students self-rating their scores can be a great method of determining where your students need help. Create online forms that help students monitor their progress at the conclusion of each lesson/week, as per your convenience.
• Self-evaluation: This could be at regular intervals or at the end of the class. Since online courses are typically taken up by self-motivated individuals so it's important students see the outcomes.

Apart from self-evaluation associations can also be used to assist students in learning and retain what they have learned. To make this process more efficient, you need to know what your students already are aware of. So,

• Before enrolling someone into an educational program, evaluate their current level of understanding to determine if they're an appropriate candidate for the course.
• If not, and you're launching the course to help beginners be sure to create your content so that they can relate your course to something they are already familiar with. It means you have assist them with the encoding process.

There may be a need to employ methods such as images, chunking, or the elaboration.

• Divide your lessons into smaller parts with engaging questions, Q&As, online debates as well as peer-support to keep your students engaged.
• Encourage your students to form relationships with their prior knowledge through presenting information in a manner that's easily understood. This will help students use images to learn and remember.
• Finally, your online course should encourage students to participate in the content active. This process, also known as elaboration, is crucial to engage students and create connections with previous information to gain new knowledge.

While these are all metacognitive and cognitive techniques, they cannot be ignored the significance of motivation, emotions, and social learning theories.

    Include social interactions and feelings into the mix    

A majority of your students sign up for your course because they cannot physically attend classes for different reasons. Learning environments online provide a different option to traditional learning as well as a better level of participation in many instances. It is important to ensure that the online learning experience lively and enjoyable. It is essential to employ social-affective methods, which require interpersonal communication and emotions. Be aware that "affect" refers to feelings.

Here's how to accomplish that:

• Make yourself relatable to your students to gain knowledge through the example of. Create feelings of wonder joy, enthusiasm and joy. surprise, etc. It's fairly easy to trigger these feelings within your students.
• Gaming can make your students be content and happy after they reach some levels of achievement.
• The giving of badges, certificates or any other form positive reinforcement could assist in bringing joy into your life.
• If you offer the chance to discount a well-performing student It is a way to combine happiness with a sense of surprise. This can make students more eager to study.
• Polling can be used to develop games and tests at the end of every 15 minutes, to keep your students engaged and encourage them to share their knowledge on forums.
• Since children are becoming more comfortable to social media so it is logical to include social media in the classroom as well.

Humanize theory of information processing to create relatable online courses

Information processing theory helps us to comprehend how we keep and process information that we learn in our minds, using our sense organs and the brain. Although this model is accurate regarding how perception and perception operate, it fails to explain social learning and the functions of motivation or emotions.

Moreover, the human mind is incredibly complex and cannot be reduced to how the computer functions. In your role as instructors, it's important to be aware of your students' inherent needs and emotions in the forefront. Through creating a stimulating online learning environment and considering the limitations of human beings, you will be able to make a great online course that will leave a lasting impression on the students.

gives you various tools to design course content which is social and engaging. It assists you in creating educational content that is based on data processing models, but recognizes the fact that students are thought and emotional human beings who want to connect with each other while they learn. It provides powerful social engagement features which make it easy for you to create classes for groups and promote active discussions with your students.

By humanizing online learning, helps you connect to your students' minds in an engaging manner. For more information on how we can help you create educational modules that draw on the principles of the field of psychology, please contact us now.