Cognitive load theory: Historical development and relation to other theories

Cognitive Load Theory

Volumn , Issue , 2010, Pages 7-28

  Moreno, Roxana ^a   Park, Babette ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO   (United States)

^b SAARLAND UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84928046838     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511844744.003     Document Type: Chapter

References (101)

1. American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. Washington, DC: Author.
2. Anderson, J. R., & Bower, G. (1983). Human associative memory. Washington, DC: Winston.
3. Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 2, pp. 89–195). New York: Academic Press.
4. Ausubel, D. P. (1960). The use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal materials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 51(5), 267–272.
5. Bandura, A. (2000). Social-cognitive theory. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 329–332). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
6. Bannert, M. (2000). Effects of training wheels and self-learning materials in software training. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, 16(4), 336–346.
7. Bannert, M. (2002).Managing cognitive load, recent trends in cognitive load theory. Learning and Instruction, 12, 139–146.
8. Bartlett, F. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
9. Berthold, K., & Renkl, A. (2009). Instructional aids to support a conceptual understanding of multiple representations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 70–87.
10. Boekaerts, M. (2006). Self-regulation and effort investment. In E. Sigel & K. A. Renninger, (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed., Vol. 4) Child psychology in practice (pp. 345–377). Hoboken, NJ:Wiley.
11. Boekaerts, M., Pintrich, P., & Zeidner, M. (Eds.). (2000).Handbook of self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
12. Bratfisch, O., Borg, G., & Dornic, S. (1972). Perceived item-difficulty in three tests of intellectual performance capacity (Tech. Rep. No. 29). Stockholm: Institute of Applied Psychology.
13. Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., & Austin, G. A. (1956). A study of thinking. New York: Wiley.
14. Campbell, D. T. (1988). Task complexity: A review and analysis. Academy of Management Review, 13, 40–52.
15. Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1991). Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 8, 293–332.
16. Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1992). The split-attention effect as a factor in the design of instruction. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 62, 233–246.
17. Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1996). Cognitive load while learning to use a computer program. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 151–170.
18. Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973). The mind’s eye in chess. In W. G. Chase (Ed.), Visual information processing(pp. 215–281). New York: Academic Press.
19. Chi, M. T. H., Glaser, R., & Rees, E. (1982). Expertise in problem solving. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (pp. 7–76). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
20. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. Oxford, England: Mouton.
21. Cooper, G., & Sweller, J. (1987). The effects of schema acquisition and rule automation on mathematical problem-solving transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 347–362.
22. De Groot, A. (1966). Perception and memory versus thought: Some old ideas and recent findings. In B. Kleinmuntz (Ed.), Problem solving: Research, method, and theory (pp. 19–50). New York: Wiley.
23. Eccles, J., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998).Motivation to succeed. In W. Damon& N. Eisenberger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (5th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1017–1095). New York: Wiley.
24. Egan, D. E., & Schwartz, B. J. (1979). Chunking in recall of symbolic drawings. Memory & Cognition, 7, 149–158.
25. Fisk, A. D., & Schneider, W. (1983). Category and work search: Generalizing search principles to complex processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 9, 117–195.
26. Gerjets, P., Scheiter, K., & Catrambone, R. (2004). Designing instructional examples to reduce intrinsic cognitive load: Molar versus modular presentation of solution procedures. Instructional Science, 32, 33–58.
27. Gerjets, P., Scheiter, K., & Catrambone, R. (2006). Can learning from molar and modular worked-out examples be enhanced by providing instructional explanations and prompting self-explanations? Learning and Instruction, 16, 104–121.
28. Guthrie, E. R. (1959). Association by contiguity. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study of science (Vol. 2, pp. 158–195). New York: McGraw-Hill.
29. Halford, G., Maybery, M., & Bain, J. (1986). Capacity limitations in children’s reasoning: A dual task approach. Child Development, 57, 616–627.
30. Hancock, P. A., & Desmond, P. A. (2001). Stress, workload and fatigue. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
31. Hancock, P. A., & Meshkati, N. (1988).Human mental workload. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
32. Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-based and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42, 99–107.
33. Huey, B.M., & Wickens, C.D. (1993).Workload transition: Implications for individual and team performance. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
34. Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
35. Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
36. Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1998). Levels of expertise and instructional design. Human Factors, 40, 1–17.
37. Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1999). Managing split-attention and redundancy in multimedia instruction. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 351–357.
38. Kantowitz, B. H. (1987).Mental workload. In P. A. Hancock (Ed.), Human factors psychology (pp. 81–121). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
39. Kato, Y., Honda, M., & Kamii, C. (2006). Kindergartners play lining up the 5s: A card game to encourage logical-mathematical thinking. Young Children, 61(4), 82–88.
40. Kirshner, P., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. (2006).Why minimal guidance during instruction does notwork: Ananalysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41, 75–86.
41. Kotovsky, K., Hayes, J. R., & Simon, H. A. (1985). Why are some problems hard? Evidence from Tower of Hanoi. Cognitive Psychology, 17, 248–294.
42. Lee, H., Plass, J. L., & Homer, B. D. (2006). Optimizing cognitive load for learning from computer science simulations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 902–913.
43. Logan, G. D. (1979). On the use of concurrent memory load to measure attention and automaticity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 5, 189–207.
44. Logan, G.D. (1980).Attention and automaticity in Stroop and priming tasks: Theory and data. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 523–553.
45. MacDonald, W. (2003). The impact of job demands and workload on stress and fatigue. Australian Psychologist, 36, 102–117.
46. Madden, J. M. (1962).What makes work difficult? Personnel Journal, 41, 341–344.
47. Maybery, M., Bain, J., & Halford, G. (1986). Information processing demands of transitive inference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 12, 600–613.
48. Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
49. Mayer, R. E. (2004). Should there be a three strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction. American Psychologist, 59(1), 14–19.
50. Mead, D. F. (1970). Development of an equation for evaluating job difficulty. Brooks, TX: Air Force Human Resources Laboratory.
51. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81–97.
52. Moray, N. (1979).Mental workload: Its theory and measurement. New York: Plenum.
53. Moreno, R. (2005). Instructional technology: Promise and pitfalls. In L. PytlikZillig, M. Bodvarsson, & R. Bruning (Eds.), Technology-based education: Bringing researchers and practitioners together (pp. 1–19). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
54. Moreno, R. (2006).When worked examples don’t work: Is cognitive load theory at an impasse? Learning and Instruction, 16, 170–181.
55. Moreno, R. (2009). Constructing knowledge with an agent-based instructional program: A comparison of cooperative and individual meaning making. Learning and Instruction, 19, 433–444.
56. Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2007). Interactive multimodal learning environments. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 309–326.
57. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
58. Owen, E., & Sweller, J. (1985). What do students learn while solving mathematics problems? Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 272–284.
59. Paas, F. (1992). Training strategies for attaining transfer of problem-solving skill in statistics: A cognitive load approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 429–434.
60. Paas, F., Renkl, A., & Sweller, J. (2003). Cognitive load theory and instructional design: Recent developments. Educational Psychologist, 38, 1–4.
61. Paas, F., Renkl, A., & Sweller, J. (2004). Cognitive load theory: Instructional implications of the interaction between information structures and cognitive architecture [Guest editorial statement]. Instructional Science, 32, 1–8.
62. Paas, F., Tuovinen, J., Tabbers, H., & van Gerven, P. W. M. (2003). Cognitive load measurement as a means to advance cognitive load theory. Educational Psychologist, 38, 63–71.
63. Paas, F., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1993). The efficiency of instructional conditions: An approach to combinemental-effort and performance measures. Human Factors, 35, 737–743.
64. Paas, F., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1994). Variability of worked examples and transfer of geometrical problem-solving skills: A cognitive-load approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 122–133.
65. Pollock, E., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2002). Assimilating complex information. Learning and Instruction, 12, 61–86.
66. Posner, M. I., & Snyder, C. R. R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In R. L. Solso (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola symposium (pp. 212–225). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
67. Renkl, A., Atkinson, R., & Grobe, C. S. (2004). How fading worked solution steps works – A cognitive load perspective. Instructional Science, 32, 59–82.
68. Rumelhart, D. E., & Ortony, A. (1976). The representation of knowledge in memory. In R. C. Anderson, R. J. Spiro, & W. E. Montague (Eds.), Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge (pp. 99–136). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
69. Schmidt, H. G., Loyens, S. M. M., vanGog, T., & Paas, F. (2007).Problem based learning is compatible with human cognitive architecture: Commentary on Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42, 91–97.
70. Schneider, W., & Schiffrin, R. M. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention. Psychological Review, 84, 1–66.
71. Schnotz, W. (2001). Sign systems, technologies, and the acquisition of knowledge. In J. F. Rouet, J. Levonen, & A. Biardeau (Eds.), Multimedia learning? Cognitive and instructional issues (pp. 9–29). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
72. Seufert, T., & Brünken, R. (2006). Cognitive load and the format of instructional aids for coherence formation. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 321–331.
73. Seufert, T., Jänen, I., & Brünken R. (2007). The impact of intrinsic cognitive load on the effectiveness of graphical help for coherence formation. Computers in Human Behavior, 23, 1055–1071.
74. Shiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing. II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. Psychological Review, 84(2), 127–190.
75. Simon, D., & Simon, H. (1978). Individual differences in solving physics problems. In R. S. Siegler (Ed.), Children’s thinking: What develops? (pp. 325–348). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
76. Simon, H. A., & Gilmartin, K. J. (1973). A simulation of memory for chess positions. Cognitive Psychology, 5, 29–46.
77. Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12, 257–285.
78. Sweller, J. (1989). Cognitive technology: Some procedures for facilitating learning and problem solving in mathematics and science. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 457–466.
79. Sweller, J. (1993). Some cognitive processes and their consequences for the organization and presentation of information. Australian Journal of Educational Psychology, 45, 1–8.
80. Sweller, J. (1994).Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4, 295–312.
81. Sweller, J. (2003). Evolution of human cognitive architecture. In B. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 43, pp. 215–266). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
82. Sweller, J. (2004). Instructional design consequences of an analogy between evolution by natural selection and human cognitive architecture. Instructional Science, 32, 9–31.
83. Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1994).Why some material is difficult to learn. Cognition and Instruction, 12(3), 185–233.
84. Sweller, J., Chandler, P., Tierney, P., & Cooper, M. (1990).Cognitive load as a factor in the structuring of technical material. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 119, 176–192.
85. Sweller, J., & Cooper, G. (1985). The use of worked examples as a substitute for problem solving in learning algebra. Cognition and Instruction, 2(1), 59–89.
86. Sweller, J., Kirschner, P., & Clark, R. (2007). Why minimally guided teaching techniques do network: A reply to commentaries. Educational Psychologist, 42, 115–121.
87. Sweller, J., Mawer, R., & Ward, M. (1983). Development of expertise in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112(4), 639–661.
88. Sweller, J., vanMerriënboer, J., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10, 251–296.
89. Taconis, R., Ferguson-Hessler, M. G.M., & Broekkamp, H. (2001). Teaching science problem solving: An overview of experimental work. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 442–468.
90. Tarmizi, R. A., & Sweller, J. (1988). Guidance during mathematical problem solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 424–436.
91. Thrash, T., & Elliott, A. (2001). Delimiting and integrating achievement motive and goal constructs. In A. Efklides, J. Kuhl, & R. Sorrentino (Eds.), Trends and prospects in motivation research (pp. 3–21). Boston: Kluwer.
92. Tuovinen, J., & Sweller, J. (1999). A comparison of cognitive load associated with discovery learning and worked examples. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 334–341.
93. van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Ayres, P. (2005). Research on cognitive load theory and its design implications for e-learning, educational technology, research and development, Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(3), 5–13.
94. van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & de Croock, M. (1992). Strategies for computer-based programming instruction: Program completion vs. program generation. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 8(3), 365–394.
95. vanMerriënboer, J. J. G., Kirschner, P. A., & Kester, L. (2003). Taking the load off a learner’s mind: Instructional design for complex learning. Educational Psychology, 38, 5–13.
96. vanMerriënboer, J., & Sweller, J. (2005). Cognitive load theory and complex learning: Recent developments and future directions. Educational Psychology Review, 17, 147–177.
97. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
98. Wickens, C. D., & Hollands, J. G. (2000). Engineering psychology and human performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
99. Winne, P. H. (2005). Key issues in modeling and applying research on self-regulated learning. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54, 232–238.
100. Wood, R. E. (1986). Task complexity: Definition of the construct. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 37, 60–82.
101. Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Achieving self-regulation: The trial and triumph of adolescence. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Academic motivation of adolescents (pp. 1–27). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.