¶ … Procsesing Theory Cognitive development

Cognitive development: Information processing theory

Information processing theory might view the human mind as a kind of 'computer' but even this construct allows that the cognitive development stage of the individual can affect how the brain processes information. In contrast to Piaget's theory of development which was derived by studying a relatively narrow range of subjects, information processing theory is more expansive (which is why some people resist calling it a theory at all) and instead uses experimental evidence about the brain and functions such as memory. But the nature of the 'hardware' of the brain will affect perceptions (input) and thus output (responses) will also be affected by developmental stages (Miller 2002: 246).

When a child perceives information for the first time, that information can then be transformed, manipulated, and used in different ways. Information processing theorists study how this 'data' is deployed (Miller 2002: 246). Like Piaget and previous developmental theorists, they often ask "how children of given ages have come as far as they have and why they have not gone further" until the brain exhibits further development...

However, it should be noted that stages of development as they relate to age are not the only concern of information processing theorists: instead of only focusing on children, information processing theorists also are interested in different ways adults perceive and take in information about the world around them. In fact, it has been called the first major revolution in the study of how adults see the world, not just children.
Two major concepts about human development influenced information processing theorists: the first was the development of computers, or machines which seemed to simulate human processing, even though they were not recognizably human. The second was the influence of linguistic theorists which illustrated that merely studying how humans processed nonsense syllables was not enough to understand the input/output model of language. The linguistic theorist Noam Chomsky proposed that the "essence of language is a set of underlying abstract rules that generate sentences" (Miller 2002: 269). Gradually, human beings acquire these rules as infants but the human brain seems hard-wired to excel at such information processing and the capacity to be creative with language changes and evolves with age. This makes…