mental development, the mind’s machinery includes attention mechanisms for bringing information in, working memory for actively manipulating information, and long term memory for passively holding information so that it can be used in the future. A primary focus of information processing is memory. Stage theory The most widely accepted model is called "stage theory" based on the work by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin shown in figure 1. The model focuses on how information is stored in the memory in three stages. In this theory, information is thought to be processed in a serial, discontinuous manner as it moves from one stage to another. Other theories There are many recent theories concerning information processing that differ from the stage theory model. Research and study continue to modify existing beliefs in cognitive psychology. Despite the fact that there are commonly accepted pieces, the complete picture of how information is processed continues to change. Levels of processing: One of the first alternatives to the stage theory was developed by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart (1972). The levels of processing theory holds that memory is not three-staged, which distinguishes it from the stage theory model. Dual-coding theory: Another theory is Allan Paivio’s work in dual coding. This theory gives equal significance to both verbal and non-verbal processing and suggests that there are two separate systems for processing these types of information. Schema theory, parallel distributed processing, and connectionist models: David Rumelhart (1980), working in conjunction with others, developed the schema theory of information processing and memory. He suggested that a schema is a data structure for representing generic concepts stored in memory. References Further reading Old age Digital divide