Using the Information Processing Approach to Explain the Mysteries of the Black Box: Implications for Teaching Religious and Moral Education

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to use the three “stage theory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) or the “information processing approach” to explain the cognitive processes or the mysteries of the “black box” and its implication for teaching Religious and Moral Education. The rapid creation of computers has encouraged the use of computer model to explain learning, which is termed as the information processing approach, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in the late 1960’s. Thus, the information processing approach is based on the apparent similarities between the operation of the human brain and that of the computer and this gives the implication that information processing approaches are concerned with the nature of the cognitive processes. The implications of the information processing approach or the stage theory for teaching Religious and Moral Education, should place emphasis on the design of the curriculum, that is experiencing what is being taught, focusing on the developmental levels of leaners and employing the appropriate teaching and learning materials to give the right information to the learners especially in the initial stages of cognitive development.

Keywords: black box, cognitive development, memory, memory system information, teaching