What is it?
Information processing theory describes how people take in, store and retrieve information, using the computer analogy of input, storage and output. Unlike behaviorism, it focuses on mental processes. The classic model is Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) multi-store model.
- Analogy
- Computer
- Stores
- Sensory → working → long-term
- Processes
- Attention, perception, rehearsal, encoding, retrieval
- Education
- Cognitive load, metacognition
Three stores
| Store | Capacity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensory | Very large | Under ~1–4 s | Brief raw trace |
| Short-term/working | 7±2 chunks (about 4 in recent work) | ~20 s without rehearsal | Conscious workspace |
| Long-term | Practically unlimited | Lasting | Episodic, semantic, procedural |
Miller (1956) proposed the "magical number seven, plus or minus two" and showed chunking extends capacity.
Processes
- Attention selects information for working memory.
- Perception assigns meaning.
- Rehearsal maintains or transfers information.
- Encoding through elaboration, organization and imagery.
- Retrieval, aided by matching cues and context.
How you process matters more than how long you study. Craik and Lockhart’s (1972) levels of processing show that thinking about meaning beats looking at surface features.
Later developments
Baddeley and Hitch (1974) recast short-term memory as working memory with a phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and central executive (episodic buffer added in 2000). Metacognition monitors and regulates processing.
Classroom applications
| Principle | Strategy | |
|---|---|---|
| Limited attention | Highlight key points, cut distractions | |
| Limited working memory | Chunk content, manage 인지부하 이론 | cognitive load |
| Elaboration | Examples, analogies, prior knowledge | |
| Organization | Concept maps, tables | |
| Retrieval practice | Quizzes, self-explanation, spaced review |
Frequently asked questions
- How does it differ from constructivism?
- It models individual mental processing; constructivism stresses active meaning-making and social context.
- Are short-term and working memory the same?
- Working memory emphasizes manipulation as well as storage.
- Who proposed the multi-store model?
- Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968.
References
- Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 2, pp. 89–195). New York: Academic Press.
- Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97.
- Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York: Academic Press.
- Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 671–684.