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Information Processing Theory and Approach

Oct 29, 2023

Have you been aware of the complex neuro-psychological process behind how your students (or just about anybody) learn new concepts and information? This is what is the idea behind information processing theories aims to understand. It explores the complicated procedure of recording, watching and processing data within our brains, and then retrieving it when necessary.

Learn more about the concept and how to apply it to creating online courses to help your students. We'll begin with a quick look at where it all started.

Skip ahead:

     A brief overview of Information Processing Theory    

In the 1950s, researchers realized that computers could be the key to understand how the human mind works. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman laid down the basics of how humans operate with short-term memory and acquire knowledge. Based on this fundamental model, two popular models of theories on processing information later appeared from the research: The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the various stages of information processing that include sensory memory, short term memory (working memory) as well as long-term memory. It emphasizes the importance of attention as well as intricate patterns of rehearsal that aid in the retention of data in long-term memory. The Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is built on these ideas and describes the process of processing language and spatial patterns.

Do you know a lot of psychological terminology? Don't worry! We've amalgamated aspects of the theories discussed above to assist you understand how humans process information. It is possible to begin understanding this through examining the way humans process information in daily situations as well as analyzing each of these actions in greater in depth.

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     The key concepts of Information Processing Theory    

As an educator of creators It is extremely beneficial to know the facets of information processing.

Let's consider an example

If you're on the streets that are crowded you're exposed to a variety of scents, sights and sounds. People may rub you shoulders in the event that you happen to come across large numbers of people. To escape this hustle and bustle, it's best to go into a café that you know is calm and quiet. Also, it is a good decision to make sure that they serve top quality breakfast and coffee in the part of town.

This is information processing theory at work, actually in the real world. We'll look at the following ways:

  1. You can experience different stimuli (people strolling around, somebody touching your shoulder or a vehicle moving at a high speed or a car speeding by, etc. - sensation. An external stimulus (an stimulus or information)
  2. It appears to be overcrowded (perception is the way we view the information that we received).
  3. Through your experiences in the past (long temporal episodic memory) You perceive this particular situation to be unsafe and uncomfortable (being pushed around - prior association)
  4. Hence, you recall the place which had given you solace (another chain of memory results in retrieving details regarding the serene café and its pastries - the symbolic memory).
  5. The memory activates when you go into the cafe (judging/analyzing prior to making a final decision. Moving towards the cafe can represent a case of procedural memory).

First, you sense your environment

Humans are able to receive information referred to as "stimulus" by using five senses: smell, sight, touch, (hearing) and tasting. The sixth sense that relates to the body's position or movement, as well as balancing the vestibular sense is present.

The sense organs, and the sense organs that they are:

  • Vision Eyes
  • Audio - Ears
  • Touch skin
  • Taste - Tongue
  • The smell - nose
  • The sense of Vestibular Sense: the ears along with different parts of the nervous system.

If your sense organs transform the real world information into electrical signals and your brain process them and interprets them as information that you can recognize on an unconscious degree. Your interpretation of what you observe is influenced by the previous connections (similar data that's stored in your brain that can be recalled and create connections).

Notice to creators If you do not incorporate the use of virtual or augmented reality in your lesson content, you will primarily use inputs (stimuli) related to vision (reading texts and watching videos) as well as the audio (voice and background music).

     The process of perception is the result of sensing.

The sense organs detects stimulus external to them and convert the signals they get into electrical signals recognized by various regions within the brain. Sensory processing takes place within the organs of sense and perception is carried out within the brain. People with different perceptual or disordered learning may be unable to process information efficiently.

For writers: If you're looking to make the contents of your course accessible to disabled students You may wish consider accessible design methods. Examples of accessible design include the need to avoid uneven spacing between words as well as paragraphs that are lengthy by breaking them down into shorter paragraphs as well as creating enough white space.

HTML0The information perceived has been processed (encoded) and saved in memory.

Memory is a broad concept that encompasses a range of different aspects of cognitive functioning. It's the act of storing and storing the details for a specified duration of duration (sensory or working memory) and then transferring the information into more long-term storage by consolidating (encoding).

Sensory memory can last between 2 and 3 seconds. If you do not pay your attention to what you experience, and don't feel it, you will never be able to develop short-term memory. Research has revealed that short-term memory can hold around seven different informational items over an interval of between 15 and 30 seconds. Through practice, your brain can retain this information, and then the memory deteriorates, or gets lost.

During rehearsal during rehearsal, your brain goes through an encode. It causes information to transfer to long-term memory. After it has been transferred to long-term storage, you can retrieve your information anytime so long as you don't allow it to pass through the process that is degrading or interrupted. Memory that is long-term can vary from remembering things that you have seen in the past couple of minutes to occasions that took place long ago dating all the way into childhood.

A note for the creators of your piece The practice of rehearsing is typically performed as rote learning in pedagogical situations. We know that most students are not able to understand the notion of rote-learning at a fundamental level, which is why it's not the best approach to learn complicated concepts or abstract ideas.

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

  1. The phrase "explicit memory" is a reference to memory that is accessible to you consciously. If someone asks you what is the capital city in Great Britain is, you will easily be able to declare it is London. Therefore explicit memories can also be known as declarative memory. Declarative memory is further divided into:
  • The episodic memory - Memories of certain events that occurred in your lives. Examples include visiting an old friend's home as a child
  • The ability of semantic memory is to recall what you've learnt about the world. This is the case for the declaration of World War 2 (September 1 1939).
  1. Implicit memory: It's stored in the memory of your brain, but it is linked to your performance, movement. Examples of this include the ability to swim and remembering how to drive for a while after a absence, etc.

Attention helps memory last for longer and assist you in learning more quickly.

Though our sense organs absorb diverse kinds of information, they don't get registered within our brains unless we notice the information. They just get stored as "sensory memory," in the wake of perception. They only last a few minutes (between two and three seconds).

This is the process of the ability to focus your attention on a particular stimuli in the absence of other stimulus. Like, for instance, you stroll into a café you like and decide to order the croissant you want in spite of the possibility that there's a myriad of alternatives on the menu.

Reinvoking the example of the crowding street, your mind could have recognized the presence of a number of individuals. But, it is possible that you have not paid attention enough to recall their faces. As a result, the data associated with the faces of each individual deteriorated and then is gone forever.

     What is the process? What happens inside the brain?

If you are an educator and create, you might be wondering which learning materials that you teach students is being processed by their brains. Baddeley and the Hitch Model of Working Memory gives a precise solution to this.

The frontal region (a portion of the brain) is the brain's central processing area where data is stored and retrievable. There are various kinds of memories stored in different parts within the brain. As per Hitch:

  • Audio information (information which is presented in the form of sound that is usually recognized as language, music or different kinds of sounds) can be recorded by the Phonological Loop.
  • The Phonological Loop is an articulatory store where information is stored for a short period of time, and the articulatory process is where the brain practices information about auditory processing that is stored for a longer amount of time.
  • Visuospatial sketch pad is the area of the brain which stores visual and spatial data such as shapes, patterns and images.
  • The episodic buffer may enhance the brain's ability to encode, store and retrieve data by linking various brain regions that aid in processing information.

We can now apply what we've learned about information processing within the online learning environment.

     Students should take note of the online course content    

In the context of lesson designing or creating modules think of it in the following way. If you fail to make your slides or video appealing enough, students are likely to overlook them and move on to the next one. Students will glance at the slides or video (sensation occurs) but they don't comprehend the contents for long enough time to keep it in their short-term memory of their brains. It is important for them to practice their ability to store long-term memories and it is completely erased from the sensorimotor memory. Therefore, keeping their attention is crucial.

You must take into account the possibility that your student may be daydreaming, distracted, or bored with your content. These factors could affect the ability of students to focus on what needs to be absorbed and stored into long-term memory. Therefore, making sure your material is designed to keep the attention of your students is very important.

What you are able to accomplish:

  • Make them stop every ten to fifteen minutes. The human attention span decreases after 15 minutes.
  • So, plan your lessons to break them down into chunks of fifteen minutes or shorter. It is not necessary to produce tutorials or videos that last just ten minutes. Instead, it is better to offer your students small activities like games, or chillouts.
  • Create more interactive online learning spaces. We will explain why later on.

     Fundamental information processing techniques for helping your students learn better.    

In the event that information is saved in the short-term memory of a person, it can either transfer to long-term memory or erased. The repetition and the practice are crucial factor to keep the information over a length of time into long-term memory. Hence, it is crucial to design your lesson plans so that your students get enough time to practise and repeat the knowledge that they have stored in their brains. It should happen in the timeframe of a few seconds. At the conclusion of every class, which is only a couple of minutes long, the students should be encouraged to repeat, practice in a rehearsal or practice. Rote learning can help ensure that they process what they learned and is stored for long-term memory.

In the event that something is recorded in a long-term memory bank the information can be recovered later when prompted. However, the efficiency of the retrieval process is dependent on the level of interest that a student was capable of absorbing something (were enough attentive, or was the content you presented pertinent enough and relevant, etc. ).

You can clearly see in this description, learning in general is a result of our perception of information and how we relate it to our previous knowledge, and that we must pay attention.

Does it really have to be that simple?

     Limits that are lower than average for Information Processing Theory in online learning    

Humans aren't robots. Drawing parallels between the brain of a human being and that of a computer may be tempting but they're different. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the impact of emotion and motivation in the way we sort through information or remember what we've learned. Both of them are crucial for learning and remembering things we've learned.

The brain processes information linearly -it is something that's sensed as well as stored. Information is and then processed (encoded) and stored and finally, retrieved. This is known in the field of serial processing. Computers are able to do.

However, the brain may be capable of processing information at a parallel rate, meaning it has the ability to process multiple kinds of information. The brain's multitasking abilities does not correspond to what a computer can accomplish. Thus, even though research into the concept of data processing precisely defines the way we process, perceive and conserve information, it does not take into account emotions or the non-linear manner that our brain works.

They have feelings in addition to motivations and desires that you could or not have considered when you design the curriculum of your class. Therefore, it's important to recognize that you're giving instructions to humans rather than computers. One of the easiest ways to solve this issue is to build an online learning experience that's stimulating.

We'll now look at how you can include emotions, motivation and as social interactions to your mix, and use the theories of information processing so that you can create an online course that is perfect for your needs.

     Strategies for making information processing theory work better for online learning    

 Instruct your students to pay attention

What is the point of being an instructor if they do not would like to? It's crucial that they are determined or have a desire to take the class and be motivated to finish.

Motivation drives students to be focused on the material and can lead to enhanced processing of information (encoding) as well as a better capacity to locate information. In other words when your student isn't motivated to learn, even an outstanding course will not register in their mind.

Motivation plays a vital role in the processing of information as well. One needs to be motivated enough to pay the attention of external stimuli.

  • Your responsibility as an author and educator is to maintain the drive.
  • Be aware that motivation is an ongoing supply of energy that cannot be a void. It's important to feel appreciated in addition to receiving constructive feedback and a feeling of social acceptance to be motivated to continue working on something. Do you remember your peers who encouraged you to do something in times of low motivation, or when you needed to become more proficient in particular areas? The same is true for the process of learning too.

The interpersonal and motivational aspects have a lot in their common. Now, let's explore how this is manifested in the social information processing theory.

Encourage social interaction during learning

One-to-one learning is beneficial human beings learn best when they are working in groups. That's why the traditional way of learning is conducted in classrooms or in groups, as learning with others is much more fun (and is more effective).

Social Information Processing Theory is a part of the theory that explains how people interact with one another through computer-mediated networks, such as the internet-based platform used for education.

Humans are also taught by imitation and observation. That means, imitating how others behave. If you are, the teacher who is creating, then take on the role of a model and let your students imitate the way you conduct yourself. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, stressed the fact that learning happens in social settings as well as that it's impossible to take away "social" elements of learning.

In this context, it is crucial to

  • Create online group activities
  • Students should be encouraged to communicate in platforms and share their experiences.
  • Make collaboration and engagement via social media a central element of your education design.
  • Use social media platforms to share ideas as well as acts as a type of practice
  • You can get positive feedback from your peers (other students) that acts as reinforcement. In order to do this, you must ask your students to evaluate the work of each other in a positive manner.

Use specific strategies for cognitive development to achieve the goals

The cognitive strategies of the brain are typically focused at a particular job. Therefore, you need to encourage your students to work within the field directly. The strategies for cognitive development that you can apply in online learning include note-taking, repetition, context understanding and Mnemonics. (A Mnemonic is an approach to help you remember or retrieve information that is stored in your brain.)

For example: VIBGYOR is an abbreviation used to describe the colors of the rainbow, which include violet, blue indigo, green, yellow, red and orange. Apart from acronyms, there are many other kinds of mnemonics too like flashcards, classifying objects into categories, categorizing, etc. They can all help your students recall the information they've learnt quickly.

 Facilitate high-level processing of information using Metacognitive techniques

Researchers have also proposed that there is a phenomenon known as "metacognition," which means "thinking about thought processes." As you practice and try to remember your mistakes or use techniques to aid others to learn or recall (such like educating someone in order to reach a objective) you are engaging in metacognition.

The year 1987 marked the year in which A.L. Brown began to discuss metacognition strategies in the context of learning. Through the years, it has developed somewhat.

In Online classes, here are some of the top metacognitive strategies.

  • Advance organizers: Help your students consider the lesson plans you've created by sharing the course calendars before the scheduled time. This helps your students to foresee what to expect and to connect the information with what they have already learned.
  • Self-planning: Ask your students to plan their work as well as what they'll do to arrange them. They will have the chance to "think about the things they're learning" metacognition.
  • Self-monitoring by students: Scales for self-reporting provide a fantastic means of understanding what areas your students may require help. Use online forms to let students to track their progress at the conclusion of each lesson/week in accordance with the program you prefer.
  • It is possible to evaluate yourself regularly or even at the conclusion of the class. Because online courses are mainly taken up by self-motivated individuals it is vital that they get outcomes.

In addition to self-evaluation, you can utilize associations as well to assist students retain the things they learned. To make this method more efficient it is crucial to know what information your students know. So,

  • If you are considering enrolling someone in an educational program, evaluate the knowledge level they have in order to decide if they're a suitable student for the course.
  • If they're not and you are launching your course in order to assist beginners, make sure that you design your course so that the students will be able to link what you are teaching to what they know. It is important to assist them with the process of encoding.

There are many methods like images, chunking, or elaborate.

  • Divide your lessons into small pieces using engaging polls as well as online debates. Additionally, you can use questions and answers, and peer support to keep students interested.
  • Encourage your students to form connections with their prior knowledge through providing the facts in a format that makes it easy for them to understand. This will help students use images to aid in learning and remember information.
  • Furthermore, the course online is expected that students take the course actively. Elaboration is the process that takes place is sometimes called the process of elaboration, is essential to motivate students in forming associations with existing skills to acquire the latest knowledge.

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

 Include social interactions and emotional expression in the mix

The majority of students enroll in your course because they cannot physically go to class for various reasons. Online learning environments can be a viable alternative to face-to-face learning and provide more involvement in many of situations. But, it's crucial to keep the online learning environment lively and exciting. It is vital to utilize techniques that are socially-affective, and involve the interpersonal interaction and emotional reactions. Note that "affect" is a reference to emotions.

Here's how to accomplish this:

  • You should be able to inspire students who are learning through modelling. Make them feel a sense of excitement and wonder. It is also possible to generate feelings of happiness and contentment, joy delight, amazement, etc. It's relatively easy to instill the kinds of feelings you want to in your students.
  • Gamification is a great way to make your students feel at peace and content after they have completed certain levels of achievement.
  • Giving certificates, badges, or other forms positive reinforcement can aid in the development of the joy.
  • If you provide the chance to discount a well-performing student It is a combination of excitement and surprise that makes the students eager to learn.
  • Polling can be used for making games or tests at the end of every fifteen minutes in order to make sure that students are interested and allow them to talk about what they have learned through forums.
  • Children are becoming more accustomed to social media It is logical to integrate technology in the classroom, too.

     Humanize the theory of data processing in order to create accessible online courses    

Information processing theory helps us to understand how we store and acquire new knowledge within our brains, by using our sense organs and brain. Even though this model is precise in terms of how perception and perception function however, it is not able to give a complete explanation of social learning or the role in motivation, as well as emotions.

Furthermore, the human brain is very intricate and cannot be reduced to how the computers function. Being teachers of the creator, it's essential to maintain your students' innate thinking and their desires in their minds. By creating an engaging online learning experience as well as recognizing the human limits, you are able to develop a unique online program which will leave an unforgettable impression on the pupils.

provides you with a range of tools that allow you to design course content that has a social and interactive nature. It allows you to create courses that are based on information processing methods, but also recognizes that your students are thinking and expressing human beings that want to engage with each other while they learn. It provides powerful social interaction tools that make it simple to create classes that are geared towards small groups, and encourage lively discussion with your students.

By humanizing online learning, makes it possible to communicate with your students in a way that is fun. If you want to know more about ways to aid you in creating course content rooted in psychological science, contact us today.

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