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Controlled Information Processing

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning

Synonyms

Effortful information processing

Definition

Controlled information processing is a mental process that requires attention and cognitive capacity and has to be initiated by the subject. It is considered to be limited, slow, serial, effortful, and used for unskilled tasks. It is initiated intentionally and shows benefit from practice. Performance will change from controlled to automatic after extensive training under the precisely the same conditions. Automatic processing is considered to be the opposite process to controlled processing.

Theoretical Background

During the 1950s, the cognitive psychology focused on the capacity limits of human information processing (HIP), such as how the brain treats incoming information (stimuli). The British psychologist Broadbent introduced a significant model of information processing in 1958 and was one of the first to draw a distinction between automatic and controlled processes. Further work by Posner and Snyder (1975) implicated the...

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References

  • Birnbom, S. (2003). The automatic and controlled information-processing dissociation: is it still relevant? Neuropsychological Review, 13, 19–31.

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  • Broadbent, D. E. (1958). Perception and communication. New York: Pergamon.

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  • Posner, M. I., & Snyder, C. R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In R. L. Solso (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The loyola symposium (pp. 55–85). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

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  • Schneider, W., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1977). Controlled ND automatic human information processing: detection search and attention. Psychological Reviews, 84, 1–66.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bergen, Jonas Liesv 91, 5009, Bergen, Norway

    Dr. Åsa Hammar

Authors
  1. Dr. Åsa Hammar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Åsa Hammar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Education, University of Freiburg, 79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Norbert M. Seel

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Hammar, Å. (2012). Controlled Information Processing. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_495

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_495

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1427-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1428-6

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