Babette Park

Cognitive Load Theory: Cognitive Load Theory: Historical Development and Relation to Other Theories

The goal of this introductory chapter is to provide a historical review of the assumptions underlying Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and to place the theory into the broader context of the learning sciences. The chapter focuses on the theoretical developments that guided the research on cognitive load and learning for the past twenty years and is organized in the following way. First, we examine the nature of the cognitive load construct and compare it to similar psychological constructs. Second, we present a historical review of the development of CLTs assumptions in the following four stages: (a) extraneous cognitive load in problem solving, (b) intrinsic cognitive load and the first additivity hypothesis, (c) germane cognitive load and the second additivity hypothesis, and (d) the evolutionary interpretation of CLT. Finally, we conclude the chapter by examining the constructs and assumptions of CLT in relation to other theories in psychology and education. THE COGNITIVE LOAD CONSTRUCT CLT is a psychological theory because it attempts to explain psychological or behavioral phenomena resulting from instruction. Psychological theories are concerned with the possible relationships among psychological constructs or between a psychological construct and an observable phenomenon of practical consequence. A psychological construct is an attribute or skill that happens in the human brain. In CLT, the main constructs of interest are cognitive load , hence the name of the theory, and learning . CLT was developed to explain the effects of instructional design on these two constructs.

Cognitive and affective effects of seductive details in multimedia learning

Cognitive and affective processes explain contradictory seductive details research.Seductive details and modality of text were varied in a multimedia instruction.A detrimental seductive details effect was found under high load text conditions.Seductive details caused motivational compensatory effect under narration condition.Moderated mediation analyses confirm situational interest to mediate the effect. The present study integrates cognitive and affective aspects of media processing in order to make an argument for reexamining the current cold cognition perspective in multimedia research in favor of a more integrative perspective. The Cognitive-Affective-Theory-of-Learning-with-Media (CATLM) assumes that students need to become motivated to make full use of their cognitive resources. Therefore, and even though seductive details (sds) are additional interesting but unnecessary pieces of information that do not conform with the coherence principle, their possible motivational role should not be dismissed. Using a 2i?3-experimental design, participants (N=123) were asked to learn about biology with multimedia instruction that manipulated modality (text vs. narration) and presence of seductive details (no-sds vs. textual-sds vs. narrated-sds). Results of variance analyses show a modality effect. In addition, moderated mediation analyses with the moderator modality and mediator situational interest confirm the affective mediation assumption with the following two conditional effects. A direct detrimental effect of seductive details on learning performance under the text-condition and an indirect compensatory effect under the narration-condition were shown.

The role of spatial ability when fostering mental animation in multimedia learning

The present Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction (ATI) study investigates the learner characteristic spatial ability (aptitude) and the variation of mental-animation prompts (treatment: no vs. mental-animation prompts). A group of high-school students (N=94) learned about a biology topic through learner-paced multimedia instruction. Some of the learners received mental-animation prompts and others learned without prompts. A fine-grained analysis with spatial ability as continuous aptitude variable and mental animation as treatment showed a positive learning effect of animation prompts in learning outcomes of processes, but not in knowledge about structures. In addition, spatial ability only modified the relationship between animation prompts and learning when analyzing knowledge about processes. Specifically, only learners of low to medium spatial ability profited from the prompts while learners with very low or high spatial ability had comparable results when learning with or without prompts. In addition, only learners with high spatial ability rated their cognitive load to be significantly higher when learning with prompts. Results align with the assumptions of the production deficiency of learners with low to medium spatial ability, mediation deficiency of learners with very low spatial ability and stable learning performance of learners with high spatial ability whatever the learning situation offers. An Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction study investigates mental animation.Mental animation prompts (with vs. without) were varied in a multimedia instruction.Positive learning effect of mental animation prompts was found in process knowledge.Specifically, learners of low to medium spatial ability profited from the prompts.Production vs. mediation deficiency and stable learning performance are discussed.

Emotional text design in multimedia learning: A mixed-methods study using eye tracking

Abstract The present study investigated an extension of the emotional design hypothesis in multimedia learning for textual parts of multimedia instruction. In an one-factorial experimental mixed-methods design with three groups, participants learned with multimedia instruction incorporating a positive or negative emotional text design or the original learning text. Both the positive and negative emotional text design led to better learning outcomes compared with the control group. Further, the emotional text design facilitated elaboration processes but suppressed metacognitive processes during learning. Learners’ emotional state was not affected by a positive emotional text design, but participants in the group with the negative emotional text design showed a worse emotional state after learning. Qualitative data showed that even though both emotional text designs facilitated learning, cognitive mechanisms for these effects differed between the groups. Results of the present study support the extension of the emotional design hypotheses with regard to textual parts of learning environments.

Emotionen beim Lernen mit Multimedia

In diesem Beitrag werden theoretische Annahmen sowie empirische Befunde zum Zusammenhang von Emotionen und Lernen mit Multimedia dargestellt und diskutiert. Die Cognitive-Affective Theory of Learning with Media postuliert einen Einfluss von affektiven Variablen auf das Lernen mit Multimedia, welcher in mehreren experimentellen Studien nachgewiesen werden konnte. Weitere Studien weisen auf die Lernforderlichkeit einer emotionalen Gestaltung von relevanten Bild- und Textelementen in multimedialen Instruktionen hin. Ausgehend von bisherigen Befunden kann eine Interaktion von Emotionen von Lernenden vor dem Lernen mit dem emotionalen Gehalt multimedialer Instruktionen vermutet werden, welche zukunftig systematisch untersucht werden sollte. Aus bisherigen Studien werden abschliesend weitere Forschungsdesiderate abgeleitet. Diese betreffen die Einbeziehung weiterer Prozessvariablen sowie die Untersuchung von bisher kaum berucksichtigten Effekten emotionaler Gestaltungselemente von Textelementen multimedialer Instruktionen.

“I like reggae and Bob Marley is already dead”: An empirical study on music-related argumentation

This study investigates music-related argumentation in different music genres (rock/pop versus classical music) applying a mixed-methods design with three groups (referred to as novices, semi-experts and experts). Participants were asked to compare two versions of a musical piece and justify their preference in individually written argumentation. Arguments were coded by applying a category system with four main categories, namely, attributes of the musical piece, subjective dimensions, context-specific background knowledge and media-related dimensions. Results of quantitative analyses showed that experts formulated longer arguments, referring to more different categories and mentioning more aspects within these categories. Further, a larger proportion of the experts’ arguments referred to context-specific background knowledge and attributes of the musical piece, whereas semi-experts’ and novices’ argumentation consisted to a larger extent of subjective dimensions. For all analyses, there were no differences concerning the two different music genres. A discriminant analysis showed that the participants’ ascribed level of expertise was correctly predicted on the basis of their argumentation in 97.3% of the cases. Therefore, the category system provides an effective instrument for representing and evaluating music-related argumentation. Our findings illustrate quantitative and qualitative differences between arguments and build a starting point for developing innovative intervention approaches for fostering music-related argumentation.