What is an information-processing model? Information constantly enters our minds through our senses. Most of this information is almost immediately discarded, and we may never even be aware of much of it. Some is held in our memories for a short time and then forgotten. For example, we may remember the seat number on a baseball ticket until we find our seats, at which point we will forget the number. However, some information is retained much longer, perhaps for the rest of our lives.

What is the process by which information is absorbed, and how can teachers take advantage of this process to help students retain critical information and skills? These are questions that have been addressed by cognitive learning theorists and that have led to information-processing theory, a dominant theory of learning and memory since the mid-1970s.

The first component of the memory system that incoming information meets is the sensory register. Sensory registers receive large amounts of information from each of the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste) and hold it for a very short time, no more than a couple of seconds. If nothing happens to information held in a sensory register, it is rapidly lost.

Short-term memory is a storage system that can hold a limited amount of information for a few seconds. It is the part of memory in which information that is currently being thought about is stored. The thoughts we are conscious of having at any given moment are being held in our short-term memory. When we stop thinking about something, it disappears from our short-term memory. Another term for short-term memory is working memory.

Long-term memory is that part of our memory system where we keep information for long periods of time. Long-term memory is thought to be a very large-capacity, very long-term memory store. In fact, many theorists believe that we may never forget information in long-term memory; rather, we might just lose the ability to find the information within our memory. For this reason, some theorists use the term permanent memory. Theorists divide long-term memory into at least three parts: episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory. Additionally, there are several widely accepted models of information processing including Paivio's dual code theory, Lewandowsky and Murdock's parallel distributed processing, and Atkinson-Shiffrin's model called connectionism.

Brain research has changed over time. Once it was studied without viewing an active brain, one that is actually processing information, and now technology is stepping up the ways researchers can study the brain in action with devices neuroscientist call imaging methods. The important aspects of brain research most directly related to education consist of those surrounding early development, neurological connections, memory, and transference of information.

One of the teacher's most important tasks is to make information meaningful to students by presenting it in a clear, organized way; by relating it to information already in students' minds; and by making sure that students have truly understood the concepts being taught and can apply them to new situations.

Meaningful information or meaningful learning occurs when it is stored in long-term memory in networks of connected facts or concepts called schemata. The most important principle of schema theory is that information that fits into an existing schema is more easily understood, learned, and retained than information that does not fit into an existing schema.

The term metacognition means knowledge about one's own learning or about how to learn. Thinking skills and study skills are examples of metacognitive skills. Students can be taught strategies for assessing their own understanding, figuring out how much time they will need to study something, and choosing an effective plan of attack to study or solve problems.

One of the best-known study techniques for helping students understand and remember what they read is a procedure called the PQ4R method. The acronym stands for preview, question, read, reflect, recite, and review. Following the PQ4R procedure focuses students on the meaningful organization of information and involves them in other effective strategies, such as question generation, elaboration, and distributed practice (opportunities to review information over a period of time).

Cognitive psychologists use the term elaboration to refer to the process of thinking about material to be learned in a way that connects the material to information or ideas that are already in the learner's mind. Teachers can apply this principle-that elaborated information is easier to understand and remember-to helping students comprehend lessons. Students may be asked to think of connections between ideas or to relate new concepts to their own lives.

Another means that teachers can use to help students comprehend complex topics is the introduction of conceptual models, or diagrams showing how elements of a process relate to one another. Knowledge maps, a variation on conceptual models, can be used to teach a wider variety of content. A knowledge map graphically shows the main concepts of a topic of study and the links between them. Thus, cognitive strategies can be taught to students to increase their overall learning power, consistency, and resiliency through several means including the teaching of effective organization of material, appropriate questioning techniques, and related conceptual models.