Cognitive load theory

Originated by John Sweller. See also Worked example effect.

Q. Central claim?
A. limited WM capacity is the bottleneck for acquiring new knowledge

Five principles of CLT: {information store}, {borrowing and reorganization}, {randomness as genesis}, {narrow limits of change}, {environmental organizing and linking}

{information-store principle}: {people can store large amounts of info in LTM}

{borrowing-and-reorganization principle}: {most new info stored in LTM comes from others (via speech, writing, observation), and is reorganized by combining with existing knowledge}

{randomness-as-genesis principle}: {when new knowledge can’t be gotten from others, we create it (inefficiently) during problem solving using trial and error}

{narrow-limits-of-change principle}: {new info is constrained because it must be processed in WM before storage in LTM}

{environmental-organizing-and-linking principle}: {external environments provide triggers to use info from LTM to generate actions}

Q. How do schemas interact with the environmental organizing and linking principle?
A. As a learner builds more complex schemas, triggers from the environment will bring more information (and more precise information) into WM.

Q. Give some examples of “extraneous cognitive load”.
A. distracting classroom; intrusive thoughts; interpreting complex problems without schemas

{split-attention effect}: {students learn more from one integrated source of information than from multiple sources distributed in time or space}

Q. Surprising primary conflict between the split-attention effect and other cognitivist findings?
A. Integrating information from multiple sources requires more processing (Comprehension - Kintsch); difficulties seem desirable (Desirable difficulty)

Q. Two main factors which determine a task’s intrinsic cognitive load?
A. Complexity of the task (Element interactivity) and the person’s prior knowledge (schemas)

Q. What is germane cognitive load?
A. Load caused by productive learning process—e.g. constructing (or re-construct) schemas.

Q. When might one want to increase cognitive load?
A. Increasing germane cognitive load can produce better performance, so long as total load remains below limit. (So one usually has to reduce extraneous load first.)

Q. Give an example of an instructional intervention which would usefully increase germane cognitive load.
A. (Assuming extraneous cognitive load is low) increase variability, which should produce better Transfer learning; see Paas, F. G., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. (1994). Variability of worked examples and transfer of geometrical problem-solving skills: A cognitive-load approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 122.

References

• Sweller, J., & Cooper, G. A. (1985). The Use of Worked Examples as a Substitute for Problem Solving in Learning Algebra. Cognition and Instruction, 2(1), 59–89
• Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285
• Paas, F. G. W. C., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1994). Instructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks. Educational Psychology Review, 6(4), 351–371
• Paas, F. G., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. (1994). Variability of worked examples and transfer of geometrical problem-solving skills: A cognitive-load approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 122
• Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4(4), 295–312
• Sweller, J., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design: 20 Years Later. Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), 261–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5
• Paas, F., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2020). Cognitive-Load Theory: Methods to Manage Working Memory Load in the Learning of Complex Tasks. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(4), 394–398. ~https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420922183~

To read

Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive Load Theory. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8126-4

Sweller, J., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design: 20 Years Later. Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), 261–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5