The architecture of human information processing: Empirical evidence

This article outlines a path analytic interpretation of data collected in light of a theoretical formulation of a dynamic model of memory, which provides a perspective on the human information processing system as a whole. The model of memory represents an attempt to integrate the relatively static models of memory structures with the more dynamic concepts underlying research on control and processing mechanisms. The outcomes of the study emphasise the role of relational knowledge (taxotomic subject matter structures), strategic knowledge (procedural algorithms) and empirical knowledge (based on first hand experience) in cognitive skill performance.     

记忆多贮存说与加工水平说的调和

多贮存说和加工水平说是关于记忆的重要心理学理论。多贮存说强调不同记忆结构应体现个体对记忆信息不同的加工深度；加工水平说所主张对记忆信息不同的加工水平应是在不同记忆结构上的水平差异。多贮存说和加工水平说两大理论完全可以交融。     

试论科学课程教材编写的基本条件——信息加工心理学的视角

学习是信息加工过程,人类信息加工系统具有短时记忆容量有限、加工方式逻辑性及新信息序列加工等特征。教材的编写只有满足信息加工机制要求,才可能保证学生真正的学习,由此也确定了检验教材编写有效性的基本条件。     

A neuromathematical model of human information processing and its application to science content acquisition

The rate of information processing during science learning and the efficiency of the learner in mobilizing relevant information in long-term memory as an aid in transmitting newly acquired information to stable storage in long-term memory are fundamental aspects of science content acquisition. These cognitive processes, moreover, may be substantially related in tempo and quality of organization to the efficiency of higher thought processes such as divergent thinking and problem-solving ability that characterize scientific thought. As a contribution to our quantitative understanding of these fundamental information processes, a mathematical model of information acquisition is presented and empirically evaluated in comparison to evidence obtained from experimental studies of science content acquisition. Computer-based models are used to simulate variations in learning parameters and to generate the theoretical predictions to be empirically tested. The initial tests of the predictive accuracy of the model show close agreement between predicted and actual mean recall scores in short-term learning tasks. Implications of the model for human information acquisition and possible future research are discussed in the context of the unique theoretical framework of the model.     

Working Memory,Mental Capacity and Science Education: towards an understanding of the ‘working memory overload hypothesis’

Abstract

Researchers in science education recognise the importance of information processing capacity as a constraint on the abilities and achievements of science students. This constraint has been referred to as ‘mental capacity’ or ‘working memory capacity’, with the latter leading to the so‐called ‘working memory overload hypothesis’. However, rarely have researchers in this area been explicit as to the nature or theory of the mental capacity or the working memory system to which these terms refer.

In this paper we outline two possible models which have proved useful in studies of information processing in other domains. The first model (of mental capacity) developed by Pascual‐Leone and his colleagues has been applied in science education with varying degrees of success. The second model (of working memory) developed by Baddeley and his colleagues has been very successful in accounting for a wide range of cognitive activity, although it has not been applied to science education hitherto. We conclude that consideration of elements of the working memory framework may well prove fruitful in science education.     

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON BASIC RESEARCH IN ADULT LEARNING AND MEMORY

It is argued that whether the course of cognitive development is charac‐erized by growth, stability, or decline is less a matter of “fact” than a matter of the metamodel on which the theories and data are based. Such metamodels are representations of reality that are not empirically testable, but which determine the basic parameters of theory and research. Three, historical shifts in basic research on adult learning and memory are reviewed. The associative approach, dominant until the late 1950s, is rooted in the mechanistic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are seen as the formation and dissolution of stimulus‐response bonds. The associative approach has projected an irreversible decrement view of aging and learning/memory performance in which the principle processes are interference and decay, and the principle antecedents are biological. The information processing approach, dominant from the early 1960s until the present is rooted in the organis‐mic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are governed by storage structures and control processes, and active processing on the part of the learner is emphasized. The information processing view has projected a decrement with a compensation view of aging and learning/ memory performance. Finally, it is argued that a contextual approach is emerging in the present historical context. Within this approach, what is learned and remembered in a given situation depends on its total context. The contextual approach, based on ecologically valid measures, may project a nondecremental view of aging and learning/memory performance.     

基于认知神经科学视角的多媒体学习认知理论创新

Mayer多媒体学习的认知理论模型涉及感觉记忆、工作记忆、长时记忆三大基本部件和五大认知加工过程,但其科学基础仍有待深入考察。认知神经科学对感觉记忆、工作记忆和长时记忆的探索成果为多媒体学习认知理论奠定了更为深层的科学基础。认知神经科学认为,感觉记忆中的视觉记忆和声觉记忆在信息存储量、表征与编码、保持时间等方面存在互补,为多媒体学习认知理论中＂双重通道假设＂提供了更深层次的科学基础。工作记忆是多媒体学习认知加工过程的主要处理单元,认知神经科学基于脑成像技术提出的工作记忆加工成分结构及其功能定位模型和语音短时记忆功能模型,揭示了工作记忆中的信息处理机制,进一步推进了对工作记忆的基础研究。认知神经科学将长时记忆分为陈述性记忆和程序性记忆,长时记忆中信息存储的层次网络模型、激活扩散模型、集理论模型等更深入地推进了多媒体学习认知加工过程的科学基础。德国心理学家Schnotz从描述性表征和描绘性表征两个方面提出了多媒体学习＂图文理解整合模型＂（ITPC）,这一模型揭示了图文理解的过程机制,是当前多媒体学习认知理论模型的最新发展成果。     

The Figure and the Ground of Constructive Brain Functioning: Beyond Explicit Memory Processes

An implicit assumption underlying many educational and psychological theories is that the brain is a memory system. Modern information processing theory, which dominates computer science, linguistics, psychology, economics, and biology, is a theory of the storage, organization, and retrieval of information. But did human intelligence evolve as the nervous system's solution to memory requirements or to some other problem (set) more inherently related to survival than memory? Taking an evolution-inspired (Edelman, 1987) biofunctional (Iran-Nejad, 1980) approach, this article argues that the human nervous system and its processes evolved in the natural environment to solve and generalize survival problems associated with what Gestalt psychologists identified as figure-ground relations in the realm of perception. It is concluded, therefore, that the brain's functional processes and their counterparts in learning can be more appropriately explained as fundamental figure-ground than memory processes.     

Toward an Information-Processing Theory of Client Change in Counseling

A model of the cognitive structures and processes thought to compose the human information-processing system is presented. Possible difficulties in processing information are discussed because these may contribute to client problems and concerns. Recent work in applying understandings, from human information processing to an elucidation of client change in counseling, is reviewed. Information-processing models of client-centered and rational-emotive counseling are constructed that relate counseling skills and strategies employed in these approaches to hypothesized client cognitive changes. An integrated view of client cognitive change in counseling also is presented. Possible directions for research and theorizing in counseling and counselor education from the perspective of human information processing are mentioned briefly.     

LEVELS OF MIND: A MULTILEVEL MODEL OF INTELLECT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF THE GIFTED

Contemporary theories of intelligence seek to relate certain behavioral or psychometric traits to information processing. It is believed that the study of basic information processing characteristics will enhance understanding of more complex behavioral traits. The present paper presents a new theoretical framework which should help to interpret findings obtained within this approach. The proposed model assumes that human intellect is determined by elementary cognitive functions that operate at four distinct levels: biological, formal, heuristic, pragmatic. Thus, the question of what intelligence is (or creativity, etc) may be answered in four different ways, depending on the level under consideration. At present, numerous incomplete theories that refer only to one particular level are competing with each other. Consequently, it is not possible to agree upon concepts and instruments suitable for identification of the gifted. The aim of the proposed framework is to provide a theoretical background for future reconciliation and synthesis. Apart from this, some practical suggestions concerning identification of the gifted are proposed and evaluated.

     

不同情绪启动状态下的注意稳定性对记忆广度的影响

情绪和认知是信息加工中的两个子系统,情绪、认知及行为三者之间存在密切的联系。不同极性的情绪会对信息加工起到干扰或者促进作用,情绪的变化可能影响认知加工的过程,也可能对行为反应产生一定的影响。注意是完成信息处理过程的重要心理条件之一,注意对认知和行为也产生了深远的影响。以大学生为被试进行了实验室研究并有效收集了70份数据,结果表明：不同的情绪启动状态对注意稳定性没有显著性影响;注意稳定性、记忆材料对记忆广度有显著性影响。     

The specific involvement of verbal and visuospatial working memory in hypermedia learning

Many models have hypothesized that multimedia comprehension requires the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information by limited information processing systems. However, in spite of the emphasis devoted to the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information, little research has so far investigated the specific role played by verbal and visuospatial abilities in multimedia comprehension. The present paper aims to study the specific involvement of verbal and visuospatial working memory in multimedia learning. Ninety‐two students (39 boys and 53 girls) from a middle school in a small city in the northeast of Italy, were asked to learn new information on the physical and social geography of Germany from a hypermedium. Participants were also required to perform a reading comprehension test, two short‐term memory tasks, and two working memory tasks, which assessed either verbal or visuospatial memory. The results support the hypothesis that both verbal and visuospatial working memory sub‐components play a role in hypermedium processing, but with specific and distinct functions: the performance in the verbal working memory task was able to predict the semantic knowledge children can derive from hypermedia learning. In contrast, visuospatial working memory seemed to have lower connections to the semantic knowledge children derived from a hypermedia document, whereas its role emerged in the ability to construct a representation of the document structure.     

Research on adult learning and memory: Retrospect and prospect

It is argued that whether the course of cognitive development is characterized by growth, stability, or decline is less a matter of “fact” than a matter of the metamodel on which the theories and data are based. Three historical shifts in basic research on adult learning and memory are reviewed. The associative approach, dominant until the late 1950s, is rooted in the mechanistic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are seen as the formation and dissolution of stimulus-response bonds. The associative approach has projected an irreversible decrement view of aging and learning/memory performance. The information processing approach, dominant from the early 1960s until the present, is rooted in the organismic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are governed by storage structures and control processes, and active processing on the part of the learner is emphasized. The information processing view has projected a decrement with a compensation view of aging and learning/memory performance. Finally, it is argued that a contextual approach is emerging in the present historical context. A contextual perspective appears to emphasize the activities of perceiving, comprehending, and remembering rather than encoding, storage, and retrieval. Acquisition is seen as involving the articulation of input with past experience which sets the boundary conditions for perceiving and comprehending the new material. This differentiation and integration are viewed as occurring within a hierarchy of levels which reflect wider and wider contexts. Remembering is seen as the reconstruction of previous events. Event reconstruction depends, in large measure, on the extent to which original events are differentiated from and integrated with past experience during acquisition. In addition, event reconstruction also depends on events occurring following acquisition. Such a contextual perspective on acquisition and remembering leads to several suggestions for examining these activities during adulthood including an emphasis on meaning, broad contexts, and multiple influences on cognitive development.     

基于学习结果分类的教学设计思想

本文简要阐述了加涅的教学设计理论。加涅将信忠加工的学习和记忆的理论与教学实践结合起来，从人类后天习得的性能的角度出发，将学习结果分为五大类型，并以学习结果分类的观点作为其教学设计的框架，建立了一套新颖的教学理论，并提供了一整套教学设计的原则、方法、技术和依据。加涅的教学理论实践性强，对实际教学有很好的借鉴和指导意义。     

工作记忆容量对二语句子加工中动词偏好信息利用的影响

两个实验采用自定步速的实验范式,通过操纵动词偏好等信息,考察工作记忆容量的差异对第二语言（英语）句子加工中动词偏好信息利用的影响。实验结果表明,工作记忆的容量在一定程度上影响第二语言学习者动词偏好信息的利用,但是这种影响是有条件的,即影响只出现在句子加工对工作记忆要求相对较低时。     

Intrusion errors in working memory tasks: Are they related to reading comprehension ability?

The purpose of the present research was to investigate whether inefficient suppression mechanisms cause overload and interference in working memory and, consequently, influence reading comprehension. Two groups of children, matched for intelligence but differing in inferential comprehension ability, were compared on measures of short-term (passive storage) and working memory (maintenance and processing) and memory for relevant and irrelevant information after reading a passage. Poor comprehenders produced more intrusion errors in a working memory task and recalled more irrelevant information from the passage. The presence of irrelevant information in recall suggests that poor comprehenders are less efficient in reducing the activation (suppression) of information, which is no longer relevant. A year-long longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the influence of suppression efficiency in reading comprehension. Intrusion errors were shown to be a good predictor of comprehension performance 1 year later. Suppression mechanisms seem to play an important role in working memory by reducing interference and improving the processing and maintenance of relevant information in order to build a coherent representation during reading comprehension.     

The Development of Memory and Processing Capacity

The assumption of some developmental theories that short-term memory is the workspace of higher cognitive processes, and consequently that span measures processing capacity, is claimed to be inconsistent with the working memory literature. 4 experiments, using children aged 5 to 12 years, contrast this theory with a model in which short-term memory and the processing space component of working memory are at least partly distinct. Experiments 1 and 2 varied processing load, holding duration constant. The processing load manipulation had little effect on recall of a short-term memory preload. Experiments 3 and 4 failed to support the prediction that the greater processing efficiency of older children would be associated with slower loss of information from short-term memory. Although counting and rehearsal rates increased with age, and correlated with span, they did not predict the rate of loss of memory preload due to intervening counting. The data suggest that effects obtained with short-term memory span do not provide clear indications of overall working memory development, because short-term memory span and the processing space component of working memory entail distinct systems.     

Pathways from prematurity and infant abilities to later cognition

This study examined the relation of information processing in 7-month-old preterms (<1750 g at birth) and full-terms to Bayley Mental Development Indexes (MDIs) at 2 and 3 years. The infant measures were drawn from four cognitive domains: attention, speed, memory, and representational competence. Structural equation modeling showed that these measures of infant information processing mediated the effects of prematurity, and that there was a cascade of effects, with infant processing speed influencing memory and representational competence, which in turn influenced later MDI. This study shows that infant information processing mediates the effect of prematurity on later cognition, and delineates pathways whereby infant abilities relate to one another and to later outcome.     

Memory modality differences in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder with and without learning disabilities

This study assesses information processing and memory functioning in 50 children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) with and without learning disabilities (LD). Mode of presentation (visual vs. auditory), type of memory processing (immediate, short-term, and long-term), and order of recall (ordered vs. unordered) were assessed using the Learning Efficiency Test-II (LET-II). Both groups demonstrated difficulty with auditory ordered recall and lost substantial information from immediate memory to short-term and long-term memory stores. The ADHD/LD group also demonstrated more difficulty with ordered recall than the ADHD only group. While there were no differences between the two groups in regard to immediate recall, the ADHD/LD group demonstrated more problems transferring information into short-term and long-term memory stores than the ADHD only group. Verbal interference effects significantly decreased retention for both visual and auditory processing. Results indicate that ADHD alone presents significant problems in information processing, but the comorbid effects of a learning disability further intensify the negative impact of ADHD. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.