Optimizing Lectures From a Cognitive Load Perspective
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Abstract:
Lectures are a common instructional method in medical education. Understanding the cognitive processes and theories involved in learning is essential for lecturers to be effective. Cognitive load theory is one theory that is becoming increasingly recognized in medical education and addresses the appropriate use of one's working memory. Memory is essential to knowledge acquisition. Two types of memory can be considered, working memory (processing of information) and long-term memory (storage of information). Working memory has a limited capacity. Cognitive load refers to the amount of information processing activity imposed on working memory and can be divided into three domains: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. By attending to cognitive load, educators can promote learning. This paper highlights various ways of improving cognitive load for learners during lecture-based instruction by minimizing extraneous load, optimizing intrinsic load, and promoting germane load.Keywords:
Cognitive Load
Information processing theory
In the current study we examined the relationship between working memory capacity, inhibition/susceptibility to interference and fluid intelligence, measured by the Raven's Progressive Matrices (PM38), comparing groups of young (aged 18–35), young-old (aged 65–74), and old-old (aged 75–86) participants. Groups were administered two working memory tasks tapping into different mechanisms involved in working memory. The ability to control for irrelevant information was measured both considering memory errors (intrusion errors) in a working memory task and an index of susceptibility to interference obtained with a variant of the Brown-Peterson task. Regression analyses showed that the classical working memory measure was the most potent predictors of the Raven's score. Susceptibility to interference and intrusions errors contributed, but to a lower extent, to the Raven explained variance. These results confirm that working memory shares cognitive aspects with the fluid intelligence measure considered, whereas the role of inhibition to Raven scores is still in need of better evidence.
Raven's Progressive Matrices
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Articulation (sociology)
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Working memory plays an important role in complex cognitive tasks. For example, in the context of reading, it has been argued that working memory provides a workspace for maintenance and integration of different text units and relevant background knowledge. However, the amount of information that needs to held in mind is often at odds with the very restricted capacity traditionally posited by models of working memory. Moreover, direct evidence concerning the role of working memory during reading is ambiguous and largely based on correlational studies. To address these issues, we conducted two dual-task studies in which we manipulated working memory capacity during reading, and examined the effects of working memory capacity on the processes (rather than the products) of reading comprehension. Both experiments focused specifically on the process of coherence monitoring, a crucial component of comprehension, by comparing participants' responses (i.e., reading times) for texts with and without inconsistencies. Moreover, in Experiment 2 we additionally examined the interaction between working memory load and availability of information by varying textual distance between inconsistent sentences. Both experiments showed that the external working memory load interfered with coherence monitoring, as reflected by reduced responses to inconsistencies. Experiment 2 further revealed that, in addition to working memory capacity, coherence monitoring is influenced by availability. Interestingly, the effect of availability was only significant in the no-load conditions, suggesting that load reduces the inconsistency effect regardless of availability. Together, these findings suggest that although readers may progress through a text relatively effortlessly by using activated portions of long-term memory, the process of coherence monitoring requires at least some working memory capacity.
Cognitive Load
Memory rehearsal
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Cognitive Load
Educational Psychology
Cognitive resource theory
Resource Depletion
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Cognitive processes have been found to play a significant role in contributing to the human errors that lead to construction accidents. A better understanding of cognitive processes as they relate to construction will elucidate the more predictable varieties of human fallibility and allow for the creation of strategies to avoid said errors. To date, no published study has empirically investigated the relationship between working memory and the human errors that lead to accidents in construction. To address this gap, this study uses eye-movement metrics to examine how working-memory load impacts worker's attentional allocation and the detection of potential hazards in construction. To determine whether changes in memory load influence scan patterns and awareness of hazards, 19 students were recruited to participate in an eye-tracking experiment in which working memory load was manipulated. The results demonstrated that as working memory load increases, the ability of participants to identify hazards decreases. In addition, the results demonstrate that there is a significant difference between the visual search strategies of people under different working-memory loads. This study provides a proof of concept that eye movements can be used as an indicator of variation in working-memory load among construction workers while they search for a hazard without any active interference with the subject.
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Objectives: The purpose of the study was to identify the impact of age-related working memory capacity and cognitive load to word recognition using an eye tracker.Methods: A total of 48 participants (24 young, 24 elderly adults) who were divided according to working memory capacity (high, low) participated in the study. This study consisted of a digit load and word recognition task.Results: First, the elderly group had lower accuracy and slower response times than the young group. There was a significant difference between working memory capacity and cognitive load in response time. In the group with low working memory capacity, the response time increased under lower cognitive load, which was different from the group with a high working memory capacity. Next, the elderly group had a lower proportion of fixation than the young group by time interval. In addition, there was a significant interaction between group and cognitive load by time interval. In particular, the proportion of fixation decreased over time under a high cognitive load while the proportion of fixation increased under a low cognitive load in the elders, because the inhibition and switching abilities were weakened which made the elders unable to process information efficiently.Conclusion: The study results showed significant effects between working memory capacity and cognitive load in response time and proportion of fixation. This implies that complex factors influence language processing, which makes measuring accuracy insufficient. Thus, this research confirms the correlation among aging, working memory, and cognitive load through both online and offline measurement.
Cognitive Load
High memory
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Long-term memory
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