Chapter 6

Memory and Information Processing¹

Human learning is a complex activity: when we learn, we do not just "acquire new response patterns." We think. We receive, store, integrate, retrieve, and use vast amounts of information. In fact, human learning is such a complex activity that it almost defies description: even the most prominent cognitive theorists admit that there is much that we do not know about what goes on inside the human brain. Nevertheless, cognitive psychology has made substantial contributions to the theory of learning and instruction.

This chapter will describe what we know about how people receive, store, integrate, retrieve, and use information. The fact that this chapter focuses very heavily on memory should not by any means be taken as an indication that memorization of information is more important than the useful application of that information. Rather, the accurate storage and recall of information and concepts should be viewed as the basis for most other intellectual activities.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Describe the operation of human memory and of its individual components.
   
   
2. Describe strategies to enable learners to receive information effectively through their sensory registers.
   
   
3. Describe strategies for transferring information accurately and efficiently to working memory and for keeping information in working memory.
   
   
4. Describe strategies for transferring information accurately to long-term memory and for retrieving information from long-term memory.
   
   
5. Describe the basic factors that contribute to forgetting and describe strategies to minimize forgetting.
   
   
6. Define automaticity and describe the role of overlearning in human information processing.
   
   
7. Define positive and negative transfer and describe their impact on human learning and information processing.

 

Putting This Chapter in Perspective: The previous chapters have described the overall processes of learning and instruction, general strategies for presenting information to students, and ways to encourage students to engage in learning. The present chapter takes a closer look at how learners use their senses and their brains to gather, store, and integrate information.

Footnote:

1. This chapter deals with the application of topics from the fields of learning theory and cognitive psychology. These other fields can be regarded as fields of basic research (See Chapter 18) that occasionally have important implications for the more applied field of educational psychology. Excellent, comprehensive sources of information are Anderson (1990) and Mayer (1992).

Click on a topic from the following list, or choose one of the above objectives, or use your web browser to go where you want to go:

• Introduction <<You are here>>
• Information Processing
• Sensory Register
• Working Memory
• Long-Term Memory
• Recalling Information
• Computers and Human Information Processing
• Forgetting
• Mnemonic Strategies
• Strengthening Memory and Minimizing Forgetting
• Transfer of Learning
• What Teachers Can Do to Improve Information Processing
• What Parents Can Do to Improve Information Processing
• What Students Can Do to Improve Information Processing
• Summary
• Annotated Bibliography