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By the
Mind Tools
Editorial Team
Cognitive Load Theory
Helping People Learn Effectively
Cognitive Load Theory© iStockphoto
rweisswald
Have you ever been on a course where the trainer went through his material so quickly that you barely learned a thing? Or maybe the content was so complex that it went completely over your head?
In this article, we'll look at Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). This takes a scientific approach to the design of learning materials, so that they present information at a pace and at a level of complexity that the learner can fully understand.
How do we Process Information?
Cognitive Load Theory builds upon the widely accepted model of human information processing shown in Figure 1 (this was published by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.)
It describes the process as having three main parts: sensory memory, working memory and long-term memory. Since then, many researchers have added to our understanding of this concept, but the basic model remains the same.
Figure 1: Information Processing Model
Cogitive Load Theory: Example 1
Adapted from Atkinson, R.C. and Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). 'Human memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes'. In Spence, K.W. and Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation, (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195.
Every day, you are bombarded with sensory information. Sensory memory filters out most of this information, but keeps an impression of the most important items long enough for them to pass into working memory.
For example, when you return a volley while playing tennis, your sensory memory discards information about players on adjacent courts, the sound of children playing nearby, the smell of coffee from the park's café... and it focuses only on the approaching ball.