Читать книгу Developmental Psychopathology - Группа авторов - Страница 72

Information‐processing theories describe humans’ mental functioning as analogous to the workings of a computer. These theories distinguish between the “hardware” and “software” of intellectual functioning, in which the “hardware” refers to certain brain structures and neural features (with the recognition that there are limits on information processing in humans, including storage capacity and speed of processing) and the “software” refers to problem‐solving strategies and methods that individuals use to help them process and remember information (such as memory strategies and study skills). In general, from an information‐processing approach, young children’s cognitive difficulties are due to general cognitive factors, such as limited knowledge, memory, attentional control, and speed of processing information, as well as by limited strategies for acquiring and using information (Thompson & Siegler, 2010). As children grow older, their performance improves and its unevenness decreases because the cognitive limitations are gradually being reduced through maturation of the brain (“hardware”) and the development of more effective information‐processing strategies (“software”).