Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cognitive Load Theory: A Broader View on the Role of Memory in Learning and Education

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Educational Psychology Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the learning of new tasks together with its ability to cooperate with an unlimited long-term memory (LTM) for familiar tasks enable human beings to deal effectively with complex problems and acquire highly complex knowledge and skills. With regard to WM, CLT has focused to a large extent on learning task characteristics, and to a lesser extent on learner characteristics to manage WM load and optimize learning through instructional design. With regard to LTM, explanations of human learning and cognition have mainly focused on domain-general skills, instead of domain-specific knowledge held in LTM. The contributions to this special issue provide a broader cognitive load view on the role of memory in learning and education by presenting the historical roots and conceptual development of the concept of WM, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of current debates about WM mechanisms (Cowan 2014), by presenting an updated model of cognitive load in which the physical learning environment is considered a distinct causal factor for WM load (Choi et al. 2014), by an experimental demonstration of the effects of persistent pain on the available WM resources for learning (Smith and Ayres 2014), and by using aspects of evolutionary educational psychology to argue for the primacy of domain-specific knowledge in human cognition (Tricot and Sweller 2014).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antonenko, P. D., Paas, F., Grabner, R., & Van Gog, T. (2010). Using electroencephalography to measure of cognitive load. Educ Psychol Rev, 22, 425–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, P. (1993). Why goal-free problems can facilitate learning. Contemp Educ Psychol, 18, 376–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (2005). The split-attention principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 135–146). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (in press). The split-attention principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning, 2 nd Edition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

  • Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), Recent advances in learning and motivation (Vol. VIII, pp. 47–90). New York, NY: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: a study in experimental and social psychology. Oxford, England: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1992). The split–attention effect as a factor in the design of instruction. Br J Educ Psychol, 62, 233–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chi, M., Glaser, R., & Rees, E. (1982). Expertise in problem solving. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (pp. 7–75). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi, H. H., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., Paas, F. (2014). Effects of the physical environment on cognitive load and learning: towards a new model of cognitive load. Educational Psychology Review.

  • Cowan, N. (1988). Evolving conceptions of memory storage, selective attention, and their mutual constraints within the human information processing system. Psychol Bull, 104, 163–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: a reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behav Brain Sci, 24, 87–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, N. (2014). Working memory underpins cognitive development, learning, and education. Educational Psychology Review.

  • Dick, B. D., & Rashiq, S. (2007). Disruption of attention and working memory traces in individuals with chronic pain. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 104, 1223–1229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, K. A., & Charness, N. (1994). Expert performance: its structure and acquisition. Am Psychol, 49, 725–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, M. W. (1985). Anxiety and cognitive-task performance. Personal Individ Differ, 6, 574–586.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, K., Ma, I., Teteris, E., Baxter, H., Wright, B., & McLaughlin, K. (2012). Emotion, cognitive load and learning outcomes during simulation training. Med Educ, 46, 1055–1062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, D. C. (2008). An evolutionarily informed education science. Educ Psychol, 43, 179–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, D. (2012). Evolutionary educational psychology. In K. Harris, S. Graham, & T. Urdan (Eds.), APA educational psychology handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 597–621). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalyuga, S. (2007). Expertise reversal effect and its implications for learner-tailored instruction. Educ Psychol Rev, 19, 509–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1999). Managing split-attention and redundancy in multimedia instruction. Appl Cogn Psychol, 13, 351–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educ Psychol, 38, 23–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalyuga, S., Rikers, R., & Paas, F. (2012). Educational implications of expertise reversal effects in learning and performance of complex cognitive and sensorimotor skills. Educ Psychol Rev, 24, 313–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotovsky, K., Hayes, J. R., & Simon, H. A. (1985). Why are some problems hard? Evidence from Tower of Hanoi. Cogn Psychol, 17, 248–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, T.–. C., Lin, Y.–. C., Tsai, M.-J., & Paas, F. (2011). Split-attention and redundancy effects on mobile learning in physical environments. Comput Educ, 58, 172–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, T. C., Lin, Y. C., & Paas, F. (2014). Effects of prior knowledge on learning from different compositions of representations in a mobile learning environment. Comput Educ, 72, 328–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychol Rev, 63, 81–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paas, F., & Sweller, J. (2012). An evolutionary upgrade of cognitive load theory: using the human motor system and collaboration to support the learning of complex cognitive tasks. Educ Psychol Rev, 24, 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paas, F., Camp, G., & Rikers, R. (2001). Instructional compensation for age-related cognitive declines: effects of goal specificity in maze learning. J Educ Psychol, 93, 181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paas, F., Renkl, A., & Sweller, J. (2003). Cognitive load theory and instructional design: recent developments. Educ Psychol, 38, 1–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, L., & Peterson, M. J. (1959). Short-term retention of individual verbal items. J Exp Psychol, 58, 193–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, G., & Beilock, S. L. (2011). Writing about testing worries boosts exam performance in the classroom. Science, 331(6014), 211–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention. Psychol Rev, 84, 1–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A., & Gilmartin, K. (1973). A simulation of memory for chess positions. Cogn Psychol, 5, 29–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A., & Ayres, P. (2014). The impact of persistent pain on working memory and learning. Educational Psychology Review.

  • Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: effects on learning. Cogn Sci, 12, 257–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweller, J. (2008). Instructional implications of David C. Geary's evolutionary educational psychology. Educ Psychol, 43, 214–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1991). Evidence for cognitive load theory. Cogn Instr, 8, 351–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweller, J., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educ Psychol Rev, 10, 251–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory (vol. 1). New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tricot, A., & Sweller, J. (2014). Domain-specific knowledge and why teaching generic skills does not work. Educational Psychology Review

  • Van Gerven, P. W. M., Paas, F., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Schmidt, H. G. (2002). Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency. Learn Instr, 12, 87–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Gerven, P. W. M., Paas, F., Van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Schmidt, H. G. (2004). Memory load and task-evoked pupillary responses in aging. Psychophysiology, 41, 167–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vredeveldt, A., Hitch, G., & Baddeley, A. D. (2011). Eyeclosure helps memory by reducing cognitive load and enhancing visualisation. Memory & cognition, 39, 1253–1263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000, DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fred Paas

  2. Early Start Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia

    Fred Paas

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

    Paul Ayres

Authors
  1. Fred Paas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul Ayres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fred Paas.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Paas, F., Ayres, P. Cognitive Load Theory: A Broader View on the Role of Memory in Learning and Education. Educ Psychol Rev 26, 191–195 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9263-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-014-9263-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation