Child Psychology Unit 3 Learning Objectives DEP 3103 Fall 2013 Chapter 7 7 1 Describe the store model of human information processing What are the sensory register short term memory store and long term memory store What is working memory How does the central executive help coordinate these systems according to this theory What are automatic processes and why are they useful The store model says that information is stored in three parts Sensory register Where information first enters Represents sights and sounds directly and stores them briefly Short term memory store We retain attended to information briefly so we can actively work on it to reach our goals Lasts about 30 seconds has limited basic capacity Able to remember around 7 digits o Working memory the number of items that can be briefly held in mind while also engaging in some effort to monitor or manipulate those items Can be thought of as a mental workspace that we use to accomplish many activities in every day life Unlike sensory register working memory is far more restricted but by engaging in cognitive procedures focusing attention on relevant items repeating them it will increase the chances that information will be retained and accessible to ongoing thinking Long term memory store Our permanent knowledge base which is unlimited Taking information from short term memory then transferring to long term for when we need to use it later Very efficiently organized according to rules and steps to help find what you re looking for Permanent knowledge base which is unlimited Categorized by its contents allowing us to retrieve items by following the same network of associations used to store them in the first place Central executive helps coordinate these systems according to this theory by Directs the flow of information implementing the basic procedures just mentioned and also engaging in more sophisticated activities that enable complex flexible thinking o Coordinates incoming information with information already in the system and it selects applies and monitors strategies that facilitate memory storage comprehension reasoning and problem solving Automatic processes are so well learned that they require no space in working memory and therefore permit us to focus on other information while simultaneously performing them Requires no information to be held in short or long term memory EX after driving for a few years you don have to think about pumping the gas or pushing down the breaks 7 2 Describe the implications for development of the store model of human information processing Describe how working memory capacity and speed of memory processing improve with age What is executive function How does it improve with age Working memory capacity improves with age because as the years pass verbatim digit span tasks tapping short term memory increases with age and increases the amount of digits remembered The speed of memory processing improves with age because with age children process information more efficiently and the faster children can repeat to be learned information either out loud or silently to themselves the larger their memory spans o Increased processing speed enables older children and adults to scan information more quickly to transform it more rapidly and therefore to hold more information in working memory at once o Executive function is a set of cognitive operations and strategies necessary for self initiation purposeful behavior in novel challenging situations These include controlling attention suppressing impulses in favor of adaptive responses coordinating information in working memory and planning organizing monitoring and flexibility redirecting thought and behavior This improves with age because during the school years it is a time of continued synaptic pruning and maturing of the prefrontal cortex in which executive functioning undergoes its most energetic period of development and children handle increasingly difficult tasks that require the integration of working memory inhibition planning etc Improves further in adolescence when the prefrontal cortex attains an adult level of synapses o Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions prioritize tasks set and achieve goals and control impulses 7 3 What is Siegler s model of strategy choice overlapping waves theory How does it explain children s changes in thinking Siegler s model of strategy choice is an evolutionary perspective natural selection that says that when given a problem kids generate many strategies to solve it With experience strategies are selected becomes more frequent and survive Others become less frequent and die off Gradually they select strategies on the basis of two adaptive criteria accuracy and speed Like the evolution of physical traits children s mental strategies display variation and selection yielding adaptive problem solving techniques ones best suited to solving the problems at hand o To study children s strategy use Siegler used the microgenetic research design presenting children with problems over an extended time period o He found that children may use the strategy min which is when children minimize the work o He also found that strategy use for basic math facts and many other types of problems follows an overlapping waves pattern o Siegler s model reveals that no child thinks in just one way even on a single task 7 4 Describe the development of attention Distinguish between sustained selective and adaptable attention What are examples of each type What is inhibition Sustained Attention Ability to continually pay attention to things When children spend more time focused on complex stimuli such as toys and video and displaying slowing of heart rate while engaged Opposite of attraction to novelty capable of intentional behavior towards something not just what is new what s on the TV what s being talked about at school Selective Attention As sustained attention increases children become better at focusing on only those aspects that are relevant to their goals there are external internal distractions and ignore them to reach a problem goal Adaptable Attention Older children are also better at flexibly adapting their attention to task requirements switching mental sets within a task Able to refocus your attention to different situations elements of the situation taking a multiple
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