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Interdisciplinary Perspectives Inspiring a New Generation of Cognitive Load Research

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Abstract

This special issue consists of six theoretical papers and an introduction. Each paper describes a current advance to the applications and focus of cognitive load theory (CLT). Four of the papers use an interdisciplinary approach outside of educational psychology by combining CLT with elements of evolutionary biology, mirror neuron research, cognitive brain science, and the philosophy of science. The remaining two papers use an intradisciplinary approach within educational psychology by applying CLT to self-regulation and heuristic learning. This paper introduces CLT, overviews each contribution, and summarizes the main themes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors greatly acknowledge the contributions of Robert Atkinson, Richard Catrambone, Peter Gerjets, Harry O’Neil, Alexander Renkl, Remy Rikers, Katharina Scheiter, Wolfgang Schnotz, Dominique Sluijsmans, Mike Spector, John Sweller, Tamara van Gog, and Pieter Wouters, who acted as reviewers on this special issue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Paul Ayres

  2. Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC), Open University of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960, 6401 DL, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Fred Paas

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  1. Paul Ayres
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  2. Fred Paas
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Correspondence to Fred Paas.

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Ayres, P., Paas, F. Interdisciplinary Perspectives Inspiring a New Generation of Cognitive Load Research. Educ Psychol Rev 21, 1–9 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-008-9090-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-008-9090-7

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