Chapter 4 - Mental Processes PDF

Mental processes Guiding Question Why are attention, perception, and working memory important for learning? The Information-Processing Model ▪ The learner interacts with the environment and receives information from the environment through the senses. ▪ Information is encoded in se...

Mental processes Guiding Question Why are attention, perception, and working memory important for learning? The Information-Processing Model ▪ The learner interacts with the environment and receives information from the environment through the senses. ▪ Information is encoded in sensory memory, where perception and attention determine what will be held in working memory for further use. ▪ Perceptual and attentional processes limit the amount of information that is available. Not all the available information can be processed because of the limited capacity of various components of the memory system. ▪ In working memory, executive processes manage the flow of information and integrate new information with knowledge from long-term memory. ▪ Thoroughly processed and connected information becomes part of long-term memory and, when activated again, becomes part of working memory. ▪ Implicit memories are formed without conscious effort. ▪ All three elements of the system interact with each other. ▪ Attention has a role in all three memory processes and in the interactions among them. This information-processing system is illustrated in the following Figure. 1  Figure 1. A Recent Version of the Information Processing System In the next few sections, we will discuss the components of the information-processing system more fully. PERCEPTION AND ATTENTION Perceptual and attentional processes are important to information processing. Students Who have difficulty with them are at risk of failure in school. Awareness of these processes and how they affect other aspects of information processing may help teachers develop instructional strategies that will support students as they attempt to learn. WHAT IS PERCEPTION? Perception involves giving meaning to sensory input. This meaning is constructed based on both physical representations from the world and our existing knowledge. For example, consider these marks: 13. If asked what the letter is, you would say, “B.” If asked what the number is, you would say, “13.” 2 The actual marks remain the same; their meaning changes in keeping with your expectation to recognize a letter or a number and your knowledge of what Arabic numbers and the Latin alphabet look like. To a child without appropriate knowledge, the marks would probably be meaningless. One of the difficult things for young children to learn is that objects have permanence. When children start to recognize letters, we ask them to perform a very complicated task. We ask them to recognize the letters b, p, d, and q as separate and distinct, even though they are very similar (see Figure 2). Figure 2. Perception of similarly shaped letters We also can recognize different kinds of handwriting, as seen in Figure 2. The fact that we can learn to do these things suggests how powerful our perception system is. Figure 3. Variations in handwriting The process from sensory input to recognized objects probably goes through several stages. Recognizing objects. Two approaches are often used to describe how we recognize objects. (1) In the first phase, features are extracted, or analyzed, to give a rough sketch. This feature analysis has been called data-driven or bottom-up processing because the stimulus must be analyzed into features or components and assembled into a meaningful pattern 3 "From the bottom up". For example, a capital letter A consists of two relatively straight lines joined at a 45-degree angle and a horizontal line through the middle. Whenever we see these features, or anything close enough, including, and we are on the road to recognizing an A (Anderson, 2020). (2) An alternative approach to recognizing objects is to rely on context and fill in any missing information. This is called top-down processing. Figure 5 illustrates this approach. Although the letters in Figure 4 are incomplete, people typically read the words as THE. Figure 4. Context WHAT IS ATTENTION? Attention is the focusing of mental resources. Attention improves cognitive processing for many tasks, from hitting a baseball to reading a book or adding numbers (Rothbart & Posner, 2015). At any one time, though, children, like adults, can pay attention to only a limited amount of information. They allocate their attention in different ways (Reynolds & Romano, 2016). They allocate their attention in different ways (Reynolds & Romano, 2016). Psychologists have labeled these types of allocation as selective attention, divided attention, sustained attention, and executive attention. ▪ Selective attention is focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. Focusing on one voice among many in a crowded room or a noisy restaurant is an example of selective attention. ▪ Divided attention involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time. If you are listening to music while you are reading this, you are engaging in divided attention. ▪ Sustained attention -also called ‘attention span'-is the ability to maintain attention over an extended period of time. Staying focused on reading this chapter from start to finish without interruption is an example of sustained attention. A recent study found that 4  sustained attention in preschoolers was linked to a greater likelihood of completing college by 25 years of age (McClelland & others, 2013). ▪ Executive attention involves planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances. An example of executive attention is effectively deploying attention to carry out the aforementioned cognitive tasks while writing a 10-page paper for a history course. Strategies for Helping Students Pay Attention Follow are some effective strategies to adopt in improving children’s attention. 1. Encourage students to pay close attention and minimize distraction. 2. Help students generate their own cue or catch phrase for when they need to pay attention. Possibly vary this from month to month. Give them a menu of options to select from, such as “Alert,” “Focus,” or “Zero in.” Teach them to say their word or pet phrase quietly but firmly to themselves when they catch their minds wandering. 3. Make learning interesting. 4. Use media and technology effectively as part of your effort to vary the pace of the classroom. Computer exercises recently have been developed to improve children’s attention (Rothbart & Posner, 2015). For example, one study found that the attention exercises in Captain’s Log (Braintrain), a commercially available program, were effective in reducing first-grade students’ attention problems (Rabiner & others, 2010). 5. Focus on active learning to make learning enjoyable. A different exercise, a guest, a field trip, and many other activities can be used to make learning more enjoyable, reduce student boredom, and increase attention. In Through the Eyes of Teachers, middle school English and drama teacher Lynn Ayres describes how games can add interest at all grade levels. Memory Systems Sensory Memory Sensory memory is very brief. Memory for visual information is referred to as iconic memory, whereas memory for auditory information is called echoic memory. In a famous experiment, George Sperling provided empirical support for the existence of sensory memory Participants were shown three rows of letters for approximately one- 5 twentieth of a second' After delays of varying length, participants were asked to recall one of the rows. Their recall worsened with longer delays. Based on these findings, iconic memory is thought to last about one-third of a second (Sperling, 1960). Short-Term Memory Short-Term memory is a temporary memory storage. It has limited capacity and duration. Without active processing of information in short-term memory, the information will be lost. The duration of short-term memory is about 20 to 30 seconds, if you do not make an effort to rehearse or elaborate on the material. Among the strategies available for keeping information in short-term memo are rehearsal and organization. Working memory Working memory is a term used to describe a limited, though active, memory system. It differs from short-term memory in that it includes both manipulation functions as well as store age. For example, if you attempt a mental arithmetic problem such as 456 X 8, you will need to store the information temporarily and keep track of the products of your computation. Thus, you are both storing and manipulating the information. A MODEL OF WORKING MEMORY. Alan Baddeley and his colleagues are responsible for one common model of working memory that is central to our current understanding of human cognition (Baddeley, 2007; 2019; Baddeley et al., 2015). In this model, working memory is composed of at least four elements: - The central executive that controls the limited attention and other mental resources available (the “worker "of working memory). - The phonological loop that holds speech-based and acoustical (sound) items; - The visuo-spatial sketchpad for items that are encoded visually, spatially, and tactilely (by touch); - The episodic buffer where information from the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, and long-term memory is integrated together to create meaningful representations based on all these sources. For example, if I asked you how many windows are in your home, your central executive would focus attention on a strategy such as searching long-term memory for images of the 6 rooms in your home, holding the images on your visual sketchpad, counting the windows by saying the numbers to yourself in your phonological loop as you mentally move from room to room, and then integrating the visual and sound information in your episodic buffer to answer the question. Figure 5. Four Parts of Working Memory Summary Why are attention. perception, and working memory important for learning? Perception is important for learning because it involves giving meaning to the sensory input we receive. Attention is important to learning because it involves selection of information, withdrawing from some objects and focusing on others. Lack of attention is characterized by confusion and diffusion. Attentional processes allow us to be selective, and perceptual processes allow us to organize sensory input, two key aspects of learning. Working memory is a limited memory system that includes both storage and manipulation functions. Baddeley's idea of working memory consists of a number of subsystems that are coordinated by a central executive: the phonological loop system, the visu-spatial sketchpad, and the central executive system, which controls both the loop system and the sketchpad. PROBLEM SOLVING Problems have an initial state (where you are), a desired state (where you would like to be), and a path to follow in order to reach that state. The gap between the initial and desired states is called the problem space, and there can be many different paths across the space. 7 Figure 6 depicts a physics problem in kinematics that was presented to high school students. The initial state of the problem is that the ball is placed on the ramp. The desired or end state is that the ball lands on the floor. The students must find a way to determine where the ball will land. Figure 6. Problem Solving Problem solving involves five steps (Bransford & Stein, 1993), which can use the acronym IDEAL: ▪ Identifying problems and opportunities ▪ Defining goals and representing the problem ▪ Exploring possible solution strategies ▪ Anticipating, acting ▪ Looking back Where: ▪ Identifying problems and opportunities The first step in problem solving is to recognize the nature of the problem. In the example in Figure 4, students need to recognize that the problem involves projectile motion and velocity. Experts in a domain typically spend much more time on the initial phases of problem solving than novices do (Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, 1999). ▪ Defining goals and representing the problem The second step is to define the goals and represent the problem. The problem solver must focus attention and understand the wording of the problem. If the learner has encountered similar problems in the past, he or she may draw on existing problem schemas for the problem. ▪ Exploring possible solution strategies The third step in problem solving is to explore possible solution strategies. These can include algorithms or heuristics. Algorithms are systematic and exhaustive procedures that are guaranteed to produce a solution. For example, if you have forgotten the three-digit combination for the lock on your briefcase, you might begin with 000 and systematically explore all possible combinations until you find the correct one. Alternatively, you could use a heuristic, or shortcut, and knock the lock off with a hammer. Heuristics can shorten the time needed to solve a problem, but they are not guaranteed to succeed. References Woolfolk, A. (2019). Educational psychology (14th ed.). Pearson. Ormrod, J. E. (2020). Essentials of educational psychology: Big ideas to guide effective teaching (6th ed.). Pearson. Santrock, J. W. (2020). Educational psychology (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. 8