Cognitive Information Processing Model

There is an adage, “Give people a fish and they eat for a day, but teach them to fish and they eat for a lifetime.” This wise maxim succinctly captures the ultimate aim of the cognitive information processing (CIP) approach to career counseling—that is, enabling individuals to become skillful career problem solvers and decision makers. Through the CIP approach, individuals learn not only how to solve the immediate career problem and make an appropriate decision, but also how to generalize this experience to future career problems.

In the 1970s, a line of inquiry emerged from the cognitive sciences that offered a new way of thinking about problem solving and decision making. This paradigm, known as CIP, was initially formulated in the works of Earl Hunt, Allen Newell and Herbert Simon, and Roy Lackman, Janet Lackman, and Earl Butterfield. When applied to career choices, this paradigm, herein referred to as the CIP model, provides a way to describe the fundamental memory structures and thought processes involved in solving career problems and making career decisions. With the CIP model, career counselors can assist clients in becoming better career problem solvers and decision makers.

The CIP model is described in four sections. The first presents key concepts that form its foundation, the second discusses assessing client needs from a CIP perspective, the third describes interventions consistent with this theoretical frame, and the fourth concerns the application of the model in career counseling practice.