Cognitive Information Processing (3)

I am reading the last part of the chapter Cognitive Information Processing. As per the findings of George Miller (1956), our memory span is seven items. Working memory capacity can be increased through creating larger bits of data or information. This process is called chunking.

Chunks of information are like politicians?!!
They are stored in the working memory in a series of slots. As new chunks arrive at the memory, they push the old chunks from their slots!

According to Brown (1958) and Peterson and Peterson (1959), the duration of the working memory decays with time.
In order to stop this decay and to ensure the information being transferred to the long-term memory, rehearsal and encoding is needed. Encoding is the better option than rehearsal.

Rehearsal means repetition. This will help to keep the information for a limited period of time in the working memory. This is not a good method to remember something for a long time.

Encoding is the process of relating the incoming data or information to concepts or ideas already in the memory in such a way that the new material is more memorable. There are different encoding methods available. Group related pieces of information into categories by Bousfield (1953), subjective organization on the material Tulving by (1962) Outlines by Glynn & Divesta (1977) are some of the methods.

Mnemonics and Mediation Matlin (1983) are another effective means for encoding. I remember an old Mnemonics I used to remember the order of calculations in algebra, “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” to (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction).

One of the old Chinese proverbs says, “A Picture's Meaning Can Express Ten Thousand Words”. So imagery can be an effective means encoding information.

(Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.)