The art of thinking · 5 · Cognitive load and learning

Cognitive load theory

Also known as: CLT

German: Theorie der kognitiven Belastung

Cognitive load theory is an instructional theory, founded by John Sweller, which holds that learning depends on how instruction uses the limited capacity of working memory: it distinguishes intrinsic load, caused by the complexity of the material relative to the learner’s knowledge, from extraneous load, caused by the way information is presented.

Cognitive psychology
Learning

In one sentence

Cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988) explains learning by the limits of working memory: intrinsic load from the material, extraneous load from its design.

Example

Learners who study a worked example of setting up a drive parameter set learn more than learners who must solve the same task by trial and error — the search for a solution consumes the capacity that learning needs.

What the research shows

John Sweller (1988) found that conventional problem solving, with its means–end search, imposes a heavy load that interferes with learning the problem's structure. Cognitive load theory grew from this: working memory is limited for new information, long-term memory holds schemas without known limits, and instruction should help learners build schemas. Sweller (1994) and later work distinguished intrinsic load (from the element interactivity of the material) and extraneous load (from the presentation). John Sweller, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer and Fred G. W. C. Paas (1998) added germane load, the load devoted to schema construction. The research produced a series of effects: the worked example effect, the split-attention effect, the redundancy effect, the modality effect, the goal-free effect and the expertise reversal effect, which shows that several of these reverse for experienced learners. Sweller, van Merriënboer and Paas (2019) reviewed twenty years of the theory.

Evidence status

The main effects have been replicated in many controlled experiments, mostly with school and university learners in mathematics, science and technical subjects. Two debates remain. First, the categories of load: Sweller (2010) recast germane load as the working memory resources devoted to intrinsic load, and Slava Kalyuga (2011) argued that it is not needed as a separate type. Second, measurement: load is often measured with a single self-rating of mental effort, which cannot separate the types; Ton de Jong (2010) criticized the theory's measures and its post-hoc explanations. Transfer of findings from short laboratory lessons to reading documentation at work is plausible but less tested.

How it applies

Cognitive load theory explains why the same content is easier or harder to use depending on its presentation and on the reader's expertise. The glossary “Applied cognitive psychology for information use” holds the design side — worked examples, the redundancy principle and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The theory is about learning and understanding; it does not decide which safety information is required.

External references

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