Acquiring Information: The Borrowing and Reorganising Principle and the Randomness as Genesis Principle

Abstract

How do natural information processing systems acquire information? The information store principle discussed in Chapter2 indicates that in order to function in a complex environment, natural systems require a massive store of information that can guide activity. The manner in which that information is acquired is of immediate interest to anyone concerned with instructional design and instructional procedures. One of the critical functions of instruction, given the centrality of the information store, is to ­provide efficient and effective procedures for acquiring the information that is to be stored in long-term memory.