Blog Post 1 (Deep Reading)

• Discuss one question or confusion that you have from the reading (you should comment on these within others' posts).

• I had a hard time understanding the model at first but when we had to apply a scenario with it I understood it a lot more.

• According to Information Processing Theory, what is learning? From your definition, what are some implications for teaching?

• The Information Processing Theory deals with a variety of specific theories about how the brain processes information. Each theory protests the behaviorist perspective that all learning involves association between stimuli and responses. Rather than focussing on external behaviors, cognitive theorists are more concerned with the mental processes that take place internally and that occur as a learner selects and attends to different parts of the environment, transforms and rehearses new information, relates the new information they have received to prior knowledge, and finally organizes their knowledge to make it meaningful. The most common theories that try to explain how human memory and learning works are the information processing approaches. Human learning was compared to the way computers process information in the early information processing theories. Just like a computer would, the mind takes in information, performs operations on it to change its form (encoding), stores it, and retrieves it when needed. (Bohlin, pg 187) A technique I would use in the classroom would be to have my students create flash cards. The reason I would have them make them on their own is because the process of writing down what they need to study will help when trying to learn/memorize the information.

• Refering to the model of memory below, describe a scenario of how a child might learn SOMETHING (as usual, you fill in this part) in detail. Make sure you trace through each stage and element of the model.

• I am teaching a young child the alphabet. The input is first and I would show they the alphabet on a poster board. After they see the alphabet I will begin to break down the process by simply starting with ABC. After they are introduced to the information that is when the sensory memory takes place. Not only would I have the poster (visual) but I would also have objects (touch) to represent each letter ("A" is for apple, "B" is for banana, etc.). The sensory memory demands a lot of information coming in at once and it is important to realize that if our full attention was captured by every sensory stimulus in the environment, we would not be able to function effectively because our mental process would become to bogged down. After significant information has gotten the attention of the child, the working memory which is also known as the short term memory comes into play. I would repeat the information multiple times during this process since the mind only absorbs the information for so long. The repetition will also help with the encoding which is the changing of the format of new information that is being stored in ones memory. After all encoding the information it should now be apart of the child longterm memory.