Information Processing Theory and Approach

Do you understand the complicated neural-psychological mechanism that determines how your students (or almost anyone) discover new ideas and information? This is what the information processing theory seeks to explain. It explores the complicated mechanism of perceiving, recording and processing information within our brains, and then retrieving it when necessary.

Find out more about the theory and ways you can use it in the creation of online courses that help your students. We'll start by taking a short overview of where the process started.

Skip ahead:

•    A brief history of Information Processing Theory
•    Concepts at the heart in Information Processing Theory
•    How does this all occur in the brain?
•    Students should focus on the content of your online courses
•    Basic information processing strategies for helping your students learn better.
•    Lesser-than-average limitations of Information Processing Theory in online learning
•    Strategies to make more efficient the use of theory about information processing for online learning
•    Humanize the theory of information processing to create relatable online courses

Brief history of Information Processing Theory

Back in the 1950s, psychologists realized that computers held the key to understanding the way that human brains work. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman laid down the basics of how humans use short-term memory and learn things. Based on this fundamental model, two well-known models of theory on information processing eventually came into existence - the Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the three stages of processing that comprise sensory memory, short-term memory (working memory) as well as long-term memory. It focuses on the significance of paying attention to and complex rehearsal behavior that leads to data being stored in the long term memory. This model, called the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is based upon these ideas and describes how we process language and spatial patterns.

Too much psychological jargon? Don't worry! We've merged aspects of all these theories in order to help you understand exactly the way we humans handle information. Let's begin understanding that through examining the way that humans process information in everyday situations, and examining each of these processes in detail.

Key concepts from Information Processing Theory

As an educator of creators, it's super helpful for you to understand aspects of information processing.

Let's try it with the following example

Suppose, you're walking on an area that is crowded and get exposed to an array of sounds, sights and smells. Some people may rub your shoulders in case you're not careful enough and happen to be in the middle of the crowds that are agitated. In order to avoid the chaos and noise, you decide to walk to a café that you are sure is peaceful and peaceful. Also, you keep in mind that they have top quality coffee and croissants in the section of town.

This is information processing theory in action, actually in the real world. We'll see:

1. It is possible to feel various stimulations (people moving about, someone rubbing your shoulder, or a vehicle speeding across the street and so on. - sensation. The term "stimulus" refers to any input from outside (or external)
2. It appears to be crowded (perception is the way we interpret the information we sensed).
3. Through your experiences in the past (long long term episodic memories) and you are able to identify the situation as uncomfortable and potentially dangerous (being pushed around - past association)
4. Hence, you recall an area that previously offered you comfort (another chain of memory will result in you retrieving the information regarding the tranquil cafe as well as its pastries - semantic memory).
5. You act on this memory, and walk into the cafe (judging/analyzing and making a decision. Moving towards the cafe can be a the procedural memory).

    First, you sense your environment    

Human beings acquire information often referred to as "stimulus" via five senses: smell, visual, touch, auditory (hearing), and tasting. Sixth sense that is related to body's posture in motion, balance, and position known as vestibular sensing is present.

senses and the related sense organs:

• Vision Eyes
• Audio - Ears
• Touch Skin
• Taste - Tongue
• Smell - Nose
• Vestibular sense, ear and various parts of the nervous system.

When your sense organs convert actual information into electrical data, your brain processes them and interprets them into information that you can recognize on the level of consciousness. What you perceive is influenced by past connections (similar data stored in your mind, which you are able to recollect and draw a connection).

Note for creators: Unless you incorporate augmented or virtual reality within your lesson content, you will primarily use inputs (stimuli) that are related to visual (reading texts and watching videos) and music (voice as background music).

    Perception is a result of sensing.

Each of the sense organs responds to various stimuli in the external environment and transforms the signals they receive into electrical signals that are detected by different parts within the brain. The process of sensing takes place inside the organs that sense, and perception takes place inside the brain. Individuals with diverse perceptual or disordered learning might find it difficult to process information easily.

Note for authors: If you are planning to make your lesson content accessible to people with disabilities, it is advisable to consider accessible design practices. Examples of accessible design include to avoid uneven spacing between words, breaking long paragraphs into shorter paragraphs and making sure there is enough white space.

    If the information being perceived is processed (encoded), it enters memory.    

Memory can be described as an umbrella word that covers a variety of components of cognitive functioning. It starts by storing the information for a period of time (sensory and working memory) and then transferring that information into long-term storage by consolidating (encoding).

Sensory memory lasts between one and three seconds. If you do not pay attention to the feeling it doesn't make it into short-term memory. Research has found that the short-term memory holds about seven pieces of information over a period between 15 and 30 seconds. With rehearsals, your mind will be able to retain the information after which it deteriorates or disappears.

During rehearsal, your brain performs a process called 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 as long as you don't allow it to fade or expose it to interruption. The term "long-term memory" can refer to an event that you witnessed in the past few minutes or something that happened a long time ago -- dating back to your childhood.

Note for creators: Rehearsal typically is used to facilitate rote learning in educational circumstances. We know that most learners find it difficult to master rote learning as well as not a good strategy to learn complex ideas and abstract information.

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

1. Explicate memory is the one that is accessible to you consciously. If someone asks you what the capital of Great Britain is, you will easily be able to declare it is London. Therefore explicit memories are known as declarative memory. Declarative memory can further be subdivided into:

• Episodic memory Memory of particular events that took place in your life, such as visiting the home of a close friend as a child
• Semantic memory - Being able to keep in mind things that you have learned about the world, such as the date of the declaration of World War 2 (September 1, 1939).

1. Implicit memory is stored in your memory for the long term, however it also relates to performance and movement. Examples include being able to swim, and recalling how to drive a vehicle after an extended gap and so on.

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

Although our sense organs receive many kinds of information but they aren't registered within our brains unless we take note of the information. They are stored in "sensory memory," after perception, and last only a few seconds (between one and three seconds).

Attention here implies focussing your attention on a specific stimulus in the presence of other stimulus. An example is when you walk into the cafe you prefer and choose the kind of bread you'd like to eat, despite the presence of several other options on the menu.

Invoking the scenario of a busy street, your mind may have perceived that there were many individuals. Yet, you may not have been paying enough attention to recall their faces. In the end, the details associated with the faces of each individual has deteriorated and is lost forever.

How does this all happen inside the brain?

As an educator who creates, it is possible to be curious about how the learning material you present to your students is being processed by their brains. Baddeley and the Hitch Model of Working Memory offers a simple answer.

The frontal region (a component of the brain) acts as the processing unit where data is stored and then retrieved. There are various types of memories stored in various parts in the brain. According to Hitch:

• Audio information (information that is in the form of sounds, usually referred to as music, language or other kinds of sound) is stored within the sound loop known as the phonological loop.
• The Phonological Loop is the phonological storage, in which information is held for a brief period of time, and the articulatory rehearsal process is where the brain practices auditory data to store over a longer time.
• Visuospatial sketchpad is a part of the brain that stores spatial and visual information, like shapes, patterns and images.
• Episodic buffer is believed to increase the capacity of the brain to store, encode, and retrieve data by linking various parts of the brain to aid in the processing of information.

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

Make your students focus on your course's online content

When you are developing or designing modules, think about the process this way. If you do not present your slides or video appealing enough, pupils will not be interested and proceed onto the next. Students take a look at the slide video (sensation happens) but do not perceive it long enough to store it in their short-term memory. It is left to practice it until they enter long term storage - it just disappears from sensorimotor memory. Therefore, keeping their attention is the most important thing.

It is important to consider the fact that your student might be distracted, daydreaming or even bored by your material. Each of these things can affect the process of paying focus on what must be learned and stored in long-term memory. So, ensuring that you write materials that keep your students' attention is crucial.

  Here's what you can do:  

• Urge them to take a break every 10 to 15 minutes. Studies show human attention diminishes in the first 15 minutes.
• Therefore, you should plan your classes in chunks that are 15 minutes or less. There is no need to make video lessons or lectures lasting only ten minutes. Instead, you need to give your students little games, activities or even chillout time.
• Create more engaging online learning spaces for students. The reason will be explained further down the line.

Fundamental information processing techniques for helping your students learn better.

After information has been stored in short-term memory, it can either be transferred to long-term memory or get deleted. Repetition and practice are the keys to retaining information for a long time in the long-term memory. Hence, it is crucial to create lesson plans in order that students have plenty of time to practise and repeat what gets retained in their working memory. The process should take place within minutes. So, at the conclusion of every lesson, which is only a couple of minutes long, encourage your students to practice, repeat the lesson, or rehearse. This helps in ensuring that what they've learned gets stored in long-term memory.

After something has been stored in long-term memory, it can be retrieved in the future, when asked. However, the success of retrieving memories is contingent on the level of interest with which a student learned the subject (were they attentive enough, was your course material relevant enough, etc. ).

So it is clear from the previous explanation that learning generally is a result of how we view information and how we relate it to the things we know already and to which we need to keep an eye on it.

It's not all that easy?

The 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 however, they're very different. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the role of motivation and emotions in our perception of information and remember things. Both are vital for learning and remembering the information we've learned.

The idea is that brains process information linearly -- that information is perceived, sensed and transformed (encoded) then stored and finally, retrieved. This is referred to as sequential processing. It is the same thing that computers are able to do.

But, the brain is able of processing parallel, which means you can concurrently process various types of data. The ability to multitask of our brains does not compare to what computers can do. So, while the theory of information processing accurately defines how we perceive and process and organize data, it fails to consider the emotional aspect and the non-linear way of how our minds work.

Students have emotions as well as desires and motives which you could or might not recognize while designing the content of your class. Therefore, it's important to realize that you are instructing human learners and not computers. One of the easiest ways to solve this issue is to develop online learning environments that are engaging.

Let's take a look at how you can add motivation, emotions and social engagement to the mix and leverage information processing theory even better in order to design the ideal online class.

Strategies to make the theory of information processing work better for online learning

    Motivate your students to pay attention    

What is the point of learning something if they don't want to? They must have an innate drive or motivation to register to take your class, and remain motivated to complete.

Motivation drives them to focus on the course content, which can result in better information processing (encoding) as well as superior capabilities for retrieving information. If your student is not motivated to be a learner, then even the best course might not register in their mind.

Motivation is a key factor in the processing of information as well. One needs to be motivated by external stimuli.

• Your responsibility as a teacher creator is to keep this drive.
• Remember that motivation is a constant source of energy and is not the absence of. You must feel valued, receive positive feedback, and feel socially accepted for motivation to keep working on something. Remember your friends encouraging you in times whenever you felt down or needed to be better at something? The same is true for learning as well.

The interpersonal and motivational aspects are connected. Let's look at how this is played out within the theory of social information processing.

    Encourage social interaction during learning    

Despite the fact that one-to-one instruction is highly effective, we benefit from learning when they are working in groups. This is the reason why traditional learning always takes place in classrooms or groups because studying with others can be more enjoyable (and efficient).

Social Information Processing theorem partially explains the way people interact with one with each other through computers for example, an online learning platform.

Humans also learn by modeling and observation, that means, imitating how others behave. If you are as the educator who created it play the role of a teacher, and students imitate your behavior. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, observed that learning takes place within social contexts and that we cannot eliminate "social" aspects of the process of learning.

With this thought in mind it is vital for you to

• Create online group activities
• Encourage students to interact with one another on forums and share their knowledge.
• Create collaboration and social media engagement essential parts of your curriculum plan.
• Use social tools for exchanging ideas and acts as a kind of practice
• Give positive feedback to your classmates (other students) which acts as a encouragement. In order to do this, you can have your students evaluate their work in a positive way.

    Make use of goal-specific cognitive strategies    

Cognitive strategies are usually focused on a specific task. This means you must encourage your students to work in the area directly. Some of the cognitive strategies which you could employ to online learning include not taking notes, repetition, contextual understanding, and Mnemonics. (A Mnemonic is a technique that allows you to recall or recall information from your memory)

As an example, VIBGYOR stands for the seven colors of the rainbow including violet, indigo blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. In addition to acronyms, there are many other types of mnemonics like flashcards, categorizing objects in categories or categories, etc. These can assist students retain what they've learned in a short time.

    Help with high-level information processing using metacognitive strategies    

Researchers have suggested the existence of something known as "metacognition," which means "thinking about thinking." Practice as you practice and try to recollect what you have forgotten, or employ techniques to aid others to learn or remember (such such as educating to achieve a specific goal) You are participating with a metacognitive form.

Back in 1987, A.L. Brown initiated discussion around metacognition for learning. In the course of time it has morphed quite a bit.

Within the context of online courses Here are a few of the most effective metacognitive strategies.

• Advance organizers: Inspire your students to consider your lesson through sharing calendars of class in advance. It helps them anticipate what they can expect, and to connect the information with what they already have.
• Self-planning: Ask your students to plan their work and the way they'll organize them. This allows them more time to "think about what they are learning" - metacognition.
• Self-monitoring: Student self-rating scales provide a fantastic method of determining what areas your students may require help. Make online forms that allow students monitor their progress after each lesson/week, as per the schedule you prefer.
• Self-evaluation: This could be at regular intervals or even at the conclusion of the class. Because online courses are mainly taken up by self-motivated individuals so it's important students see the positive results.

In addition to self-evaluation, associations can also be used to help students learn and keep track of what they've learned. In order to make this method more efficient, it is essential to understand what your students already have learned. So,

• Before enlisting someone in the course, you should assess their level of knowledge to determine if they're a good fit.
• If they are not, and you are launching an introduction course be sure to develop your material in a way that students can connect your course to something they already know. That means that you need to help them in the process of encoding.

It is possible to implement methods such as chunking, imagery, and elaborate.

• Divide your lessons into smaller parts with engaging questions and online debates. You can also use Q&As, and peer support to keep students interested.
• Instruct your students to make relationships with their prior knowledge through presenting information in a way that is easily understood. This helps with using imagery to learn and remember.
• Finally, your online course will require the students to engage with the material actively. The process of elaboration, sometimes referred to as elaboration is vital to keep learners engaged and create connections with previous skills to acquire new knowledge.

Although these are all cognitive and metacognitive techniques, they cannot be ignored the importance of motivational, emotional as well as social learning theories.

    Include social interactions and emotional expression in the mix    

The majority of students register for the course due to their inability to physically attend classes for different reasons. Online learning environments provide a different option to traditional learning as well as a better level of participation in many instances. However, it is essential to keep your learning online environment vibrant and engaging. The key is to use social-affective methods, which require emotional communication as well as interpersonal communications. Note that "affect" means feelings.

Here's how to do this:

• Be relatable for your students and help them learn by the example of. Generate feelings of curiosity, excitement, satisfaction happiness, contentment, surprise, etc. It's fairly easy to provoke these emotions among your students.
• Gamification can help your students feel satisfied and content when they achieve some levels of achievement.
• The giving of badges, certificates and other types of positive reinforcement can help you install joy.
• If you provide an unexpected discount to a well-performing student, you combine joy with a sense of surprise. This can make them more motivated to learn.
• Polling can be used to develop games and tests at the end of every 15 minutes, to ensure that your students are engaged and help them share their knowledge through forums.
• As youngsters are more familiar with social media platforms, it makes sense to integrate social media into education as well.

Humanize theory of information processing to make online courses that are relatable

Information processing theory helps us to comprehend how we keep and acquire new knowledge in our minds, using our sense organs as well as our brain. While this theory is correct in terms of how sensation and perception operate, it fails to explain social learning and the role of motivation as well as emotions.

Furthermore, the human brain is very complex and cannot be boiled down to the way a computer works. As creator educators, it is essential to maintain the students' natural needs and emotions in the forefront. In creating a fun online learning experience and taking into consideration human limits, you are able to make a great online course which leaves an impression on the learners.

It gives you a variety of tools to design course content that's engaging and social. It assists you in creating educational content that is based on data processing models yet recognizes that your students are thinking and feeling human beings, who like to interact with others while learning. It has powerful social interaction tools that make it simple for you to design classes for groups and promote engaging discussions between your students.

Through humanizing online learning, lets you engage with your students intellectually through a fun and engaging way. For more information on how we could help you develop courses that are based on psychological science, contact us now.