The Relationship between the Information Processing Theory and Learning Disabilities

Educational Psychology
 As future educators, understanding how students learn and the disabilities that

accompany learning is critical in implementing classroom instruction. Having this insight on

how one learns, acquires new information and retains previous information shapes a teacher’s

method of effective instruction to meet the needs of all students including those with learning

disabilities. There are various theories that look at the connection between teaching and learning

which also take into consideration various learning disabilities and their occurrences based on

learning processes.

One of the main approaches to learning is the cognitive approach. Unlike behavioral

based theories, cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. The two

main assumptions in the cognitive approach to learning are: (1) the memory system is an active

organized processor of information and (2) prior knowledge plays an important role in learning

(Huitt, 2003). The information processing theory is a leading cognitive theory today which

emphasizes memory and the brain as the main components in promoting students learning and

looking at the amount and the way in which the brain processes and stores information.

The Information Processing Theory

Eliasmith (2001) defines memory as the “general ability, or faculty, that enables us to

interpret the perceptual world to help organize responses to changes that take place in the world.”

It is implied by this definition that there must be a concrete structure or model in which new

stimuli is incorporated into memory. Although there have been several information processing

models created overtime, they all share a few key assumptions or considerations. First being

there is a limited capacity to how much the brain can encode, store and retrieve (Huitt, 2003).

Depending on the theory, these limitations occur at different points in the information

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processing. The second assumption is that there is some type of control system in dealing with

the stimuli. Another key assumption is that there is a relation between new information and

already stored information. The last assumption shared among the different models is that all

humans have specific genetic traits that influence the way in which they process information

(Huitt, 2003). Learning disabilities create exceptions and implications to these assumptions

which are discussed later in later sections of this paper.

The most widely used information processing model today is the stage model created by

Atkinson and Shriffin in 1968 (Mayer, 1996).The basis of this model is it views memory and

learning as sporadic and multi-staged and as new information is taken in, it is manipulated before

being stored. The stage theory model distinguishes three stages of memory: sensory memory,

short-term or working memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

Sensory Memory is the first channel in the memory store which all the new information

and environmental stimuli end up passing through. In a normal functioning information

processing system, the sensory memory gathers all the raw data from the different senses such as

sight, hearing, taste, tough and smell for 1-4 seconds (Eliasmith, 2001). Learning begins in this

stage of the information processing theory. During this stage, once the incoming information is

attended to or acknowledged as significant enough, students will develop their initial perception

of the stimulus. A student’s perception of a stimulus is the most imperative step as it directly

affects how the student consciously understands the information later on in the working memory

(Eliasmith, 2001). Over time, in average developing children, their senses become more acute

because they are better able to discriminate between the sensory stimuli they experience and see.

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Short-term/ Working Memory

Once the information has reached the sensory memory and has been attended to, the

information goes into short-term or working memory. Working memory has limited capacity of

approximately seven chunks of information and functions most efficiently when perceived

information is immediately acted upon (Suthers, 1996). Information comes into the working

memory from two directions, the sensory memory and the long-term memory. Once the

information is in the working memory, it needs to be processed and practiced within 5 to 20

seconds for it to be transferred to the long-term memory (Eliasmith, 2001). This information will

only be transferred to the long term memory if it is encoded in some way. Encoding and

recoding allows individuals to recall the information from their memory and use it. Some ways

information is effectively encoded is when material is meaningful and when prior knowledge

activation occurs. Strategies for encoding include rehearsal, chunking, schema activation and

mnemonics. Rehearsal can simply be repeating the information over and over or can be more

elaborate when new information is linked to already known information (Suthers, 1996).

Chunking is breaking up the information into manageable chunks so it is easier to remember.

Schema activation is a strategy to use with encoding complex information, relating and fitting

new information into existing schemes (Eliasmith, 2001). Schemes are structures which help

organize our knowledge and assumptions about something and are used for interpreting and

processing new information. Lastly are mnemonics which are memory strategies that help people

remember information by using something such as a rhyme or song or pairing the already known

information to the new information. As average children develop, the working memory becomes

larger, more capable of holding different types of information and is able to automate certain

tasks with the increase in speed during information processing (Suthers, 1996).

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Long term memory

The transfer from short-term to long- term memory has been compared to the processes

of a computer because it first encodes and then later stores information. Long-term memory is

the part of memory which has an unlimited capacity and holds information indefinitely

(Eliasmith, 2001). It provides the framework to which we attach new knowledge. There four

types of information that can be processed: verbal knowledge, intellectual skills such as knowing

how to perform a task like paraphrasing, visual images and episodes (Mayer, 1996). In long-term

memory storage, information either becomes declarative knowledge which deals with factual

knowledge or procedural knowledge which is knowing how to perform a task. Long-term

memory storage is subject to fading or forgetting so several retrievals of memory may be needed

for long-term memories to last. Creating lasting, long-term memories is dependent upon the

depth and efficiency of the information processing system.

Implications for Learning Disabilities

When there is a deficiency in the brain of its processing and understanding of

information, learning disabilities result. Learning disabilities are not related to a physical

disorder such as hearing loss or impaired vision and are not related to one’s intelligence

(Swanson, 1987). It may take several years to determine that a student has a learning disability,

because during childhood the behavior may simply be equated to common childhood issues.

Since the functions in information processing cannot be directly observed, it is difficult to

diagnose specific learning disabilities. Students who have average or above-average intelligence

can be diagnosed with learning disabilities when there is a significant inconsistency between

their academic achievement and their intellectual ability (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). Learning

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disabilities can fall under several categories whether it be spoken language- listening and

speaking; written language- reading, writing and spelling; arithmetic- calculation and

mathematical concepts or reasoning-organization and integration of ideas and thoughts (Mayer,

1996). Other conditions such as ADD/ADHD, psychiatric, or mobility impairments can

accompany learning disabilities by further hindering normal information processing (Özel,

2009).

Specific processing problems may occur in different stages of information processing.

For learning to occur the material and information must be input through one or more of the

senses, it must be attended to, perceived and made sense of through organization, stored and later

retrieved with memory, and then pushed back out during output.

Input

According to the information processing theory, information is first received through

input of one or more of the senses. Input is the main component in information processing

impairments due to visual or auditory issues because the eyes and ears are the primary means of

delivering information to the brain (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). Some of the early signs of

visual learning disabilities are children who are often distracted easily and who find visual

stimulation to be difficult. They confuse or misunderstand simple symbols like x + & / . While

doing math problems, students with learning disabilities may misalign equations, or have a

problem staying within the lines or margins while writing in English class (McDevitt & Ormrod,

2004). The student may have difficulty distinguishing differences in shape, skip words when

reading or bump into things while moving about as they have a hard time judging depth or

distance. The student may have difficulty processing the information that is presented with

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overhead projection, graphs and charts, videos or websites. For most individuals, especially those

with learning disabilities, the more methods of learning that are used the better the chance the

input will be remembered. Students with auditory processing disorders are those that have

trouble processing information that is given verbally such as lectures or class discussions. In this

case, the ears hear what information is said but is not processed correctly. Another sign is that

these students may have problems discerning between background noise and the meaningful

sound to which they are supposed to hear and attend (Özel, 2009). Because of this it may be

difficult to stay focused on a person’s voice or remember a song. Those with auditory processing

disorders may also mix up sounds that sound alike or have trouble speaking in a normal tone.

Students having either of these auditory and visual processing impairments have an overall

slower information processing speed than average developing students due to their trouble with

the information input to their sensory memory.

Attention

Attention is the learner’s ability to focus on the information at hand. Once the

information is presented to one or more of the senses, it must be attended to. Information that is

not attended to, does not enter into the information processing system and without a student’s

attention to the task at hand, learning cannot occur (Suthers, 1996). In most cases, the learner can

only pay attention to a select amount of information sometimes paying attention to the

information that may not be important in helping him or her learn. Students with ADD and

ADHD have trouble with the attention component of information processing because

information is missed due to being distracted all the time. It can be hard for them to maintain

focus, racing from task to task instead of attending to the information. When the students are

paying attention to the information presented but they fail to pay attention to the critical

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attributes of the lesson this can also present problems to learners. It is essential for the learners to

indentify clearly what they should be paying attention to and to check throughout the lesson that

they are meeting the objectives. In the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,

written in the first-person perspective of an individual with multiple disabilities, Christopher

talks about the hardship of his disability when it comes to information processing in that it can be

hard to attend to and take in several sensory items at once. This makes it hard for him to interpret

the world around him and to understand things as it always seems like a sensory overload. He

states “…there was too much interference in my head and this had made me confused” (Haddon,

2003, p. 96). The passage below illustrates that he first sees everything clearly as its coming in

and then he says “after a few seconds it looked like this because there were too many and my

brain wasn’t working properly and this frightened me so I closed my eyes again and I counted

slowly to 50” (Haddon, 2003, p.96). It is an example of him not being able to properly attend to

the information entering the sensory register.

Figure 1. An example of all the information that is entering Christopher’s sensory memory when he steps off the train and enters the city.

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Figure 2. What the information looks like to Christopher after the interruption in properly attending to the information due to his disability.

Perception, Integration, Sequencing & Abstraction

Once the information is brought into the brain through input and attended to, there are

certain tasks that must be carried out in order to make sense of the information. How the

information is perceived can affect one’s understanding of it. Depending on the individual’s

specific learning disability, they may have difficulty interpreting and organizing the information

from the different sensory channels (Suthers, 1996). In order to be able to organize the

information the individual needs to be able to sequence the information. With learning

disabilities, individuals may sometimes have a hard time learning information in the proper

sequence such as the alphabet, months of the year, or a times table. Students may also have

difficulty with abstraction, with things such as inferences and finding the meaning of words or

concepts, making idioms and puns or jokes hard for them to understand (McDevitt & Ormrod,

2004). It is difficult for those with abstraction issues to understand words that have different

meanings depending on their context and how they are used. Those with auditory and visual

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perceptional disabilities may have difficulty with perception due to the reasons linked to those

noted under input.

Memory

From the previous sections, we know that memory is a key component to the information

processing theory. Once the information is perceived, it enters the short-term memory and

individuals with learning disabilities may have trouble with either their short-term or their long-

term memory processing. Working memory can become overloaded when too much information

is presented. If the learner fails to perform some type of processing with the new information

through self-questioning or thinking about how the information fits with what he or she already

knows or looking for patterns, there is a disconnect and the information does not get learned

(McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). Successful learners actively and appropriately engage in taking

what they already know and connecting the new information to that, naturally building on their

long-term memory networks (Eliasmith, 2001). Those with learning disabilities do not

automatically do this and need help connecting new information with what they already know.

Output

Once the information is learned it then needs to be retrieved and communicated.

Information can be communicated in terms of words through language output or through motor

activities such as writing, drawing or gesturing. Individuals may have either language or motor

disabilities making it hard for information to be communicated (Swanson, 1987). With language

disabilities, it is not easy for the individuals to organize the thoughts, find the right words and

speak them all at the same time making it hard for them to speak in demanding situations where

they may be asked for an answer or explanation (Swanson, 1987). Learning disabilities with

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writing involve both the physical act of writing and forming words and letters and the mental act

of comprehending information or organizing thoughts on paper. Individuals with motor

disabilities have trouble with fine motor skills or tasks that require hand-eye coordination and

might have problems coloring, writing, cutting, etc. making it difficult to communicate

information to others what they have learned (Mayer, 1996).

Each of these steps is significant and students may have weaknesses in one or more of the

areas causing a learning difficulty. Perception, Integration, Sequencing and Abstraction are

important processes to numerous educational skills and abilities. Children with learning

disabilities process information more slowly than normal students and because of this their

storage and ultimately their retrieval of this information suffer. If any of the information

processing steps are not carried out properly, it will create an obstruction to the learning process

and as a consequence their learning is subsequently negatively affected.

Using Instruction that incorporates the information processing theory

With the increased numbers of those with information processing disorders and learning

disabilities it is important for us as teachers to make accommodations to fit the needs of our

students. I believe that there are a number of things that a teacher can do while planning a lesson

to make it more accessible to all students.

Educators must create a set of techniques to attract and hold a student’s attention such as

moving around the room, using gestures and eliminating any unnecessary distractions caused by

lighting, noise, temperature, seating, etc. Also, it is important to make sure we have the student’s

full attention prior to presenting information. During the lesson, we must focus student’s

attention on the important concepts by highlighting the main ideas and be selective about what

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information is given to be careful not to cause an information overload (Özel, 2009). Because the

working memory can only hold approximately seven items, it is important to reduce the

cognitive load for students through “chunking” information.

As a strong believer in the constructivist theory, I believe that meaningfulness is a key

component to information processing. I believe that when students are able to associate new

information with past knowledge or experiences it will be more meaningful and therefore

remembered much easier. When teaching a lesson, a teacher should state objectives and review

previous lessons to help students attach information to what they already know. Closely related

to meaningfulness is organization because the information that is presented in a more organized

manner is more meaningful as students will be able to make better sense of it. A teacher can do

this by using outlines or diagrams to organize the information into categories and give examples.

Using mnemonics, concept maps, visual images, and graphics can be constructive tools for

enabling individuals with learning disabilities to remember the information that is being taught

(McDevitt &Ormrod, 2004). These devices help the learner see how the information is organized

which aids in long-term memory storage. Another key part to helping students successfully learn

is giving students practice in using the new information; after defining, highlighting, and

elaborating on a concept, ask the students to do something with it, like solve a short problem,

write a sentence or draw a picture. Students will find the learning more meaningful when they

are provided opportunities for overlapping fundamental concepts and skills.

When teaching students with visual perception and processing disorders I believe it is

important that the teacher uses many forms of teaching such as sounds, images and written and

spoken words so the student can see the new information and process it using several of the

senses instead of just visual (McDevitt &Ormrod, 2004). While being spoken or read to,

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additional time may be needed for the individual to decode and then comprehend the written

material. Taking into account individual differences, as teachers we must provide printed

materials upfront to allow students enough time to read and comprehend the material. It is

beneficial for students with learning disabilities to use software or different type of technology

which can read book or textbooks to them (Özel, 2009). By adapting the lessons to the needs of

the students and allowing them to use different methods and materials it can help them to more

easily reach their learning goals by bridging the gap between information processing and their

learning disability.

Information Processing is how one’s body collects various pieces of information and

creates knowledge. During this process, the brain is supposed to pull together the information

that is being brought to them through stimuli, recognize the information and then give a

response. When information is stored during this process, next time similar stimuli are presented

the brain will know how to respond more quickly. Aside from the school setting, information

processing is the process that makes it possible for individuals to do everyday tasks. Learning

disabilities can interfere with any of the stages of information processing, affecting the way that

people carry out these tasks. Overall, I believe that examining the basic processes that govern

learning and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the learner’s information processing

can guide a teacher in structuring instruction to build upon those strengths and help the learner

compensate for their areas of needs in order for them to effectively learn when new information

is being presented.

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 References

Eliasmith, C. (Ed.) (2001). Memory. Dictionary of philosophy of mind. Pullman, WA: Washington
State University. Retrieved November 16, 2009 from
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/minddict/memory.html

Haddon, M. (2003). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. New York, NY: Random
House.

Huitt, W. (2003). The information processing approach to cognition. Educational Psychology

Mayer, R.E. (1996). Learners as Information Processors: Legacies and Limitations of Educational
Psychology’s Second Metaphor. Educational Psychologist. Vol. 31 No.3. Pgs. 151-161.

McDevitt, T.M. & Ormrod, J.E. (2004). Child Development: Education and Working with
Children and Adolescents. Prentice Hall.

Özel, A.(2009). The Practice of Information Processing Model in the Teaching of Cognitive
Strategies. Journal of Instructional Psychology; Mar2009, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p59-68, 10p

Suthers, D. (1996). Attention and Automaticity. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg, Learning

Swanson, H. (1987). Information Processing Theory and Learning Disabilities: A Commentary

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