In cognitive psychology, information processing is an approach to the goal of understanding human thinking that treats cognition as essentially computational in nature, with the mind being the software and the brain being the hardware. It arose in the 1940s and 1950s, after World War II. The information processing approach in psychology is closely allied to the computational theory of mind in philosophy; it is also related to cognitivism in psychology and functionalism in philosophy.
Two types Information processing may be vertical or horizontal, either of which may be centralized or decentralized (distributed). The horizontally distributed processing approach of the mid-1980s became popular under the name connectionism. The connectionist network is made up of different nodes, and it works by a "priming effect," and this happens when a "prime node activates a connected node". But "unlike in semantic networks, it is not a single node that has a specific meaning, but rather the knowledge is represented in a combination of differently activated nodes"(Goldstein, as cited in Sternberg, 2012).
Models and theories
There are several proposed models or theories that describe the way in which we process information.
Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence Sternberg's theory of intelligence is made up of three different components: creative, analytical, and practical abilities. Creativeness is the ability to have new original ideas, and being analytical can help a person decide whether the idea is a good one or not. "Practical abilities are used to implement the ideas and persuade others of their value". In the middle of Sternberg's theory is cognition and with that is information processing. In Sternberg's theory, he says that information processing is made up of three different parts, meta components, performance components, and knowledge-acquisition components. These processes move from higher-order executive functions to lower-order functions. Meta components are used for planning and evaluating problems, while performance components follow the orders of the meta components, and the knowledge-acquisition component learns how to solve the problems. This theory in action can be explained by working on an art project. First is a decision about what to draw, then a plan and a sketch. During this process there is simultaneous monitoring of the process, and whether it is producing the desired accomplishment. All these steps fall under the meta component processing, and the performance component is the art. The knowledge-acquisition portion is the learning or improving drawing skills.
Serial exhaustive memory scanning
Psychologist Saul Sternberg introduced the concept of high-speed memory scanning in the 1960s, a key discovery that helped shape the field of information processing. In a series of experiments, Sternberg (1966, 1969) asked participants to memorize small sets of numbers and then decide whether a test number had been part of the set. He found that reaction time increased in a straight line as the number of items grew, suggesting that people check each item in memory one by one—a process known as serial exhaustive search. This finding provided some of the first evidence that mental operations occur in orderly, measurable stages. Decades later, Sternberg (2016) defended this model, emphasizing its continued importance in understanding how the mind processes and retrieves information.
Individual patterns in working memory
Building on classic models of memory, DeStefano, Vul, and Brady (2025) examined how people store and recall visual information in working memory. In their experiments, participants were asked to remember and reproduce colors from memory, revealing consistent personal “attractor” biases toward certain hues. These patterns showed that memory errors are not random but shaped by individual perception and past experience. Their research expanded the information processing approach by showing that the brain’s handling of visual information depends not only on external stimuli but also on stable internal cognitive tendencies. This work highlights how processing information involves both universal mechanisms and individual differences.
Information processing model: the working memory
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