Information

Processing
Information
processing is the change
(processing)
of information in any
manner detectable by
an observer.
 Stages in information
processing
Information processing
occurs in five stages

1.Exposure
2.Attention
3.Comprehension
4.Acceptance
5.Retention
 1. Exposure Stage in
Information Processing
Exposure is the first and
the foremost stage in
information processing.
In this stage, the
stimulus input reaches
one or more of the five
senses.
 2. Attention Stage in Information Processing

Personal factors
Personal factors include need or motivation,
attitudes and span of attention.

Stimulus factors
Colour, size, contrast, position, movement,
isolation etc.
Give some attention to some words
 Were the following
words in the list I read?
• Dream
• Shoe
• Yawn
• Sleep
Were the following words
in the list I read?
• Dream • Dream
• Shoe • Shoe
• Yawn • Yawn
• Sleep • Sleep
 3. Comprehension Stage in
Information Processing

It is concerned with interpretation of a

stimulus.
Stimulus categorization
Stimulus organization

Personal determinants of
comprehension
motivation
knowledge; and
expectation or perceptual set.
Think about things
 4. Acceptance Stage in
Information Processing

Acceptance of a message is
dependent upon the thoughts
which occur during the
comprehension stage.

These thoughts are known as

cognitive responses.
5. Retention Stage in
Information Processing

The final stage of information

processing is retention. It
involves the transfer of
information to long term
memory.
Huitt (2003)
 system
The first is the assumption of a limited
capacity of the mental system. This means
that the amount of information that can be
processed by the system is constrained in
some very important ways. Bottlenecks, or
restrictions in the flow and processing of
information, occur at very specific points.

Limited Capacity Model of Motivated

Mediated Message Processing or LC4MP
Limited capacity for cognitive
processing of information, 
Three dimensions: 1) encoding, 2) storage,
and 3) retrieval. 
 Control mechanism
A second principle is that a control
mechanism is required to oversee the
encoding, transformation, processing,
storage, retrieval and utilization of
information.

When one is learning a new task or is

confronted with a new environment, the
executive function requires more
processing power than when one is doing
a routine task or is in a familiar
 Two-way flow of information

A third principle is that there is a two-way flow of

information.
We constantly use information that we gather through the
senses (often referred to as bottom-up processing) and
information we have stored in memory (often called top-
down processing) in a dynamic process as we construct
meaning about our environment and our relations to it.
Inductive reasoning (going from specific instances to a
general conclusion)
Deductive reasoning (going from a general principle to
specific examples.)
 Genetically prepared to process
and organize information in
specific ways.

A fourth principle generally

accepted by cognitive
psychologists is that the human
organism has been genetically
prepared to process and organize
information in specific ways.