which part of the brain has the information processing capacity of a small computer
Information processing According to thefreedictionary.com, the definition of information processing is "the sciences concerned with gathering, manipulating, storing, retrieving, and classifying recorded information".[1] It suggests that for information to be firmly implanted in memory, it must pass through three stages of mental processing; sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. An example of this is the working memory model. This includes the central executive, phonologic loop, episodic buffer,visuospatial sketchpad, verbal information, long term memory, and visual information (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012). The central executive is like the secretary of the brain. It decides what needs attention and how to respond.The central executive then leads to three different subsections. The first is phonological storage, subvocal rehearsal, and the phonological loop. These sections work together to understand words, put the information into memory, and then hold the memory. The result is verbal information storage. The next subsection is the visuospatial sketchpad which works to store visual images. The storage capacity is brief but leads to understanding of visual stimuli. Finally, there is an episodic buffer. This section is capable of taking information and putting it into long-term memory. It is also able to take information from the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad, combining them with long-term memory to make "a unitary episodic representation (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012).  In order for these to work, the sensory register takes in via the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and taste. These are all present since birth and are able to handle simultaneous processing (e.g., food – taste it, smell it, see it). In general, learning benefits occur when there is a developed process of pattern recognition. The sensory register has a large capacity and its behavioral response is very short (1–3 seconds). Within this model, sensory store and short term memory or working memory has limited capacity. Sensory store is able to hold very limited amounts of information for very limited amounts of time. This phenomenon is very similar to having a picture taken with a flash. For a few brief moments after the flash goes off, the flash it seems to still be there. However, it is soon gone and there is no way to know it was there (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012). Short term memory holds information for slightly longer periods of time, but still has a limited capacity. According to Linden (2007), "The capacity of STM had initially been estimated at "seven plus or minus two" items (Miller 1956), which fits the observation from neuropsychological testing that the average digit span of healthy adults is about seven (Cowan and others 2005). However, it emerged that these numbers of items can only be retained if they are grouped into so-called chunks, using perceptual or conceptual associations between individual stimuli." Its duration is of 5–20 seconds before it is out of the subject's mind. This occurs often with names of people newly introduced to. Images or information based on meaning are stored here as well, but it decays without rehearsal or repetition of such information. On the other hand, long-term memory has a potentially unlimited capacity (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012) and its duration is indefinite. Although sometimes it is difficult to access, it encompasses everything learned until this point in time. One might become forgetful or feel as if the information is on the tip of the tongue.