Cognitive Load: A Theory By John Sweller

Cognitive load is related to the amount of information working memory can hold at one time, because it has limited capacity. Therefore, according to Sweller, instructional methods can help us avoid overloading it. Additional activities that do not directly contribute to learning, for example, will usually overload the working memory.

Sweller created a theory that deals with a combination of elements such as the cognitive structures that form the foundation of an individual’s knowledge. He did this after recognizing George Miller’s research on information processing, which shows that short-term memory is limited in the amount of elements it can hold at one time.

Sweller believed that instructional design could reduce students’ cognitive load. Much later, other researchers found a way to measure percentage mental exertion, which indicates cognitive load.

One of the important points of John Sweller’s theory of cognitive load is that a heavy cognitive load can affect the execution of a task in a negative way. In addition, not everyone experiences cognitive load in the same way.

John Sweller’s theory of cognitive load

When it comes to cognitive psychology, cognitive load refers to the effort that is used in working memory. Sweller designed this theory to help provide guidelines for assisting in the presentation of information. His goal was to encourage student activities that optimize intellectual performance.

Thus, he took into account the content of long-term memory, sophisticated structures that allow us to perceive, think and solve problems. These structures, called forms, allow us to work with several elements at once. Thus, the form will create the base of knowledge. We acquire these through a life of learning. Forms can even have other forms inside themselves.

The difference between an expert and a beginner  is that the beginner has not acquired the form the expert has. Learning requires a change in the schematic structures of long-term memory, seen through progressive performance. This change in performance occurs because, as we become more and more familiar with the material, the cognitive characteristics associated with the material are modified so that working memory can process them more efficiently.

In order for us to acquire forms,  instructions must be designed to reduce the load on our working memory. John Sweller’s theory of cognitive load uses techniques to reduce the burden of working memory to facilitate the changes in long-term memory associated with the acquisition of forms.

The principles of Sweller’s theory of cognitive load

The specific recommendations when it comes to the design of instructional material that John Sweller proposes in his theory of cognitive load include:

• Replace problem-solving methods by using problems without goals or solved examples. The goal is to avoid approaches that impose a thing on a working memory.
• Eliminate the working memory load associated with the need to mentally integrate multiple sources of information through the physical integration of these sources of information.
• Eliminate working memory load associated with unnecessary processing of repetitive information by reducing abundance.
• Increase the capacity of working memory by using auditory and visual information where both sources of information are essential (not superfluous) for understanding.

Key points in this theory

As we have seen, the theory of cognitive load refers to an instructional design that reflects our cognitive architecture or the way we process information. Through learning, the information must remain in the working memory until it is processed enough to move on to the long-term memory.

The theory of cognitive load makes learning more effective with training methods that reflect this. These methods include:

• Measurement of experience and adaptive instruction.
• Reduce the number of problems by dividing them into chunks and using partially complete problems and solved examples.
• The fusion of multiple sources of visual information whenever possible.
• The expansion of the capacity of working memory through the use of visual and auditory channels.

Knowledge and critical thinking

One of the ideas brought up by the theory of cognitive load is that  “knowing things” is necessary to think critically about these things. This also suggests that two of the activities that process key information (acquisition of knowledge and problem solving) should be considered separate, by first focusing on the form and then on solving problems.

Thus, Sweller would suggest that problem solving and domain knowledge are  not directly proportional due to the way the brain works. Problem solving occupies an “important bandwidth of the brain” that reduces what is left to learn things. Of course, this has significant implications for the way teachers can design lessons, units and evaluations.