Which part of the information processing cycle is considered the brain of the computer?

Answer 1

It's the CPU (Central Processing Unit; also known as Microprocessor).

The CPU processes all kind of data on your computer--when you open a program, close a program, save a file, install a program, load a web page, etc., all those information are processed by the CPU. Typically, a CPU process data by the following steps: fetch, decode, execute, and writeback.

For more information on CPU, go to: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm

Now, FYI (for your information), some people out there might disagree with this and say that the CPU alone is NOT the brain of the computer, but the RAM and CPU is. This is because RAM (Random Access Memory) provides space for the data, which to be accessed by the CPU. But generally, most people will agree that CPU is the brain of the computer.

Answer 2

Short Answer:

The 'brain' of a computer is the CPU, or Central Processing Unit. This is a computer chip that recieves multiple sets of inputs and produces an output in the form of an electrical signal.

Long Answer:

That's a tricky question, and i'll explain why. Human and animal brains are really complicated and have several functions. They must have long term memory (like a computer hard drive has) so that you'll remember what you were doing yesterday before you went to sleep and what a doorknob looks like and how to turn it, short-term memory to problem solve, like in order to solve 2+2=4 you must remember the numbers in the problem or you cant solve it! (like computer RAM), and inputs and outputs (nerves to recieve data like pressure, temperature, etc -- and nerves to transmit commands to your body, like to move your arm, cause a heartbeat to occur, etc). All of these are contained inside of your brain. And computers have similar functions.

The whole computer itself is essentially like a brain. When you push the power button on a computer, a circuit on the mainboard sends a pulse to the power supply telling it to turn on fully. The simple logic on the motherboard tells everything to 'wake up' and the fans in your computer spin up. Your CPU and the chips and connections on the motherboard communicate with your video card adapter which displays an image on the screen so you can see what the computer is doing, and it starts to accept inputs while it's powering on. A computer chip in your computer establishes a connection to the CPU (thinking chip) in the computer and sends it data, with the aid of the CPU it checks to see how much memory it has, what devices are connected (e.g. mouse, keyboard, hard drive, video card, computer screen) and stores this data in its short term memory (the RAM) then boots the hard drive containing the 'long term memory' that starts up your operating system (which is saved on the long-term storage of the hard drive). In essence the whole computer functions like a brain. The CPU is only the most central part, but without RAM and without a hard drive and without a power supply, it could not function as well as it does. This is a long answer but it's only a very basic overview of how a computer works and why the whole computer is like a brain.