Taming a Beast of Burden--On Some Issues with the Conceptualisation and Operationalisation of Cognitive Load.
By Jens F. Beckmann. 2010
116 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Research on cognitive load theory (CLT) has not yet provided facet-specific measures of cognitive load. The lack of valid methods to measure intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load makes it difficult to empirically test theoretical explanations of effects caused by manipulations of instructional designs. This situation also imposes challenges to testing CLT as a theory. This paper critically reflects the conceptualisation of CLT's core concept and the implications for its operationalisation. In order to address some of the challenges we propose a complexity framework that allows the derivation of a priori estimates of mental load that go beyond CLT's notion of element interactivity. In a study we test hypotheses with regard to effects of the variation of sources for intrinsic cognitive load (increase of complexity within tasks) and the variation of sources for extraneous cognitive load (reduction of extraneous cognitive load between tasks) in three ability groups. Complexity-based estimates prove superior to element interactivity-based estimates of mental load in the prediction of performance outcomes. Results also indicate that individual differences in information-processing capacity determine to what extent complexity is reflected as cognitive load. In this respect the proposed framework extends the focus of CLT beyond the discussion of the role of prior knowledge and acquired levels of expertise.
Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7ec01464b73faa9b16579197cb7aa0af5c0fd17d
How researchers see this paper
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In Artificial Intelligence
- Paul Ginns
- Fang‐Tzu Hu
- J. Bobis
- Slava Kalyuga
- Fred Paas
- Günter Daniel Rey
- John Sweller
- Alexander Renkl
In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- J. Bobis
- Fang‐Tzu Hu
- Paul Ginns
- Slava Kalyuga
- Günter Daniel Rey
- J. V. van Merriënboer
- Fred Paas
- John Sweller
Citations in the corpus
- Getting the point: Tracing worked examples enhances learning (2015, background): “On the contrary, if reducing element interactivity requires an altered ultimate learning goal, the load is intrinsic (Beckmann, 2010).”
- Cognitive Load Theory: How Many Types of Load Does It Really Need? (2011, background): “However, cognitive load by its nature is always a feature and a result of actual human cognitive processes or “the subjective reflection of complexity” ( Beckmann 2010 ).”