This paper provides an overview of information processing theory as a major developmental framework that emerged in the 20th century. Drawing on Patricia Miller's Theories of Developmental Psychology, the paper explains how the brain operates as a multi-component processing system involving working memory, the central executive, the visuospatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, and the episodic buffer. It further examines how memory is formed through encoding, storage, and retrieval, and how developmental factors — including age, social learning, and prior knowledge — influence the efficiency and accuracy of memory across childhood.
Information processing theory was one of the first major new developmental theories to emerge during the 20th century. Unlike some other developmental theories, it was heavily influenced by the natural sciences — specifically the development of information technology and computers (Miller 2002: 276). Within this framework, human beings are regarded as "processing" organisms, based on a kind of technological metaphor for the human brain. The language of information technology is very distinct: "input–output connotes a different sort of thinker than does stimulus–response or assimilation–accommodation" (Miller 2002: 272). In the model of information processing, particular types of information are filtered through the brain via the senses and produce a new type of output based upon the innate structural components of the mind.
Information processing theory could thus be called a "brain as machine" theory. One model for processing is that of a multi-component, computer-like structure beginning with working memory — "a limited capacity workspace that actively keeps information alive temporarily so that this information can be used for thinking and learning" (Miller 2002: 272). A familiar example of working memory in use is asking a friend for the phone number of a local restaurant and then immediately dialing it. The central executive functions as a regulator of working memory, filtering out relevant and irrelevant stimuli — such as when finding someone's house by following recorded directions.
Other features of the processing system are more specialized. The visuospatial sketchpad processes and retains visual and spatial information (such as a map), while the phonological loop processes and retains speech sounds (such as the sound of someone's voice). "The episodic buffer provides a more general type of memory storage and serves as a temporary interface between the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad, on the one hand, and long-term memory" (Miller 2002: 272–273). The episodic buffer acts as a kind of connector between these different memory types.
The capacity of the brain for long-term memory is critical, as it includes the ability to remember learned skills and conceptual knowledge — such as how to use words (as opposed to the words themselves) and how to add and subtract (as opposed to individual numbers) (Miller 2002: 272–274). Learning a new language, for example, requires long-term memory. Information processing theorists suggest that knowledge is acquired in a step-by-step fashion given the differentiation of the brain: we "break down tasks or behavior into their simple components and then posit ways that children learn to integrate these skills into an organized, well-functioning system" (Miller 2002: 277). Yet the whole of the processing structure is more powerful than the sum of its parts.
"Social and developmental factors shaping memory strategies"
"How prior knowledge enhances memory efficiency"
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