Cognitive load

Cognitive load is the mental effort a task places on limited working-memory resources. It varies with the task’s complexity, presentation, and a person’s prior knowledge.

Working memory: A limited-capacity system that temporarily holds and manipulates information for ongoing thought. Cognitive load describes demands placed on this system’s limited capacity.
Multimedia learning: Learning from combinations of words, images, sound, and other media. Coordinating multiple media can either support processing or overburden working memory.
John Sweller: An Australian educational psychologist who developed cognitive load theory. His research established the theory’s account of problem solving and instructional design.
Cognitive effort: The exertion of mental resources to sustain or control thinking. Effort is the exertion itself; cognitive load concerns demands on limited capacity.
Cognitive load theory: An instructional theory explaining how working-memory limits shape learning and the design of instruction. It formalizes how different sources of load affect learning.
Worked example: A problem solution that presents the steps and reasoning needed to reach an answer. Worked examples reduce effort spent searching for a solution, especially for novices.
George A. Miller: An American psychologist known for influential work on short-term memory and information processing. His research helped establish the idea that immediate memory has limited capacity.
Mental workload: The perceived or estimated demand a task places on a person’s cognitive resources. Workload is a broader applied construct often used to assess task demands.
Intrinsic cognitive load: The mental effort arising from the inherent complexity of material and a learner’s existing knowledge. It captures the task complexity that instruction cannot simply remove.
Split-attention effect: The added mental effort caused when related information is separated across sources or locations. Integrating separated explanations and diagrams can reduce avoidable processing demands.

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