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Four Ways of Considering Emotion in Cognitive Load Theory

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Abstract

We discuss four ways in which emotion may relate to cognitive load during learning. One perspective describes emotions as extraneous cognitive load, competing for the limited resources of working memory by requiring the processing of task-extra or task-irrelevant information. Another perspective shows that encoding, storage, and retrieval of information are affected by emotion even before awareness of the material, and that emotion may directly affect memory by broadening or narrowing cognitive resources, and by mechanisms such as mood-dependent and mood-congruent processing. A third perspective describes how emotion may affect intrinsic cognitive load, such as when emotion regulation is part of the learning outcomes. We also discuss a dual-channel assumption for emotions. A final perspective is that emotion affects motivation, and, in turn, mental effort investment. These four ways of considering emotion as part of CLT are best understood when taking an interval view of cognitive load.

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  1. CREATE Lab, New York University, 196 Mercer St., Suite 800, New York, NY, 10012, USA

    Jan L. Plass

  2. University of New South Wales, 105 Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Slava Kalyuga

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Plass, J.L., Kalyuga, S. Four Ways of Considering Emotion in Cognitive Load Theory. Educ Psychol Rev 31, 339–359 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09473-5

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