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6 - Implications of Cognitive Load Theory for Multimedia Learning

from Part II - Theoretical Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Fred Paas  and
John Sweller
Edited by
Richard E. Mayer  and
Logan Fiorella
Richard E. Mayer
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Logan Fiorella
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
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Summary

Human cognitive architecture indicates the manner in which cognitive structures and processes are organized. In turn, that architecture can be used to hypothesize the relative effectiveness of alternative instructional designs. Over several decades, cognitive load theory has simultaneously identified those aspects of human cognition relevant to instructional issues and tested the resultant hypotheses using randomized, controlled experiments. The cognitive architecture used by cognitive load theory has continually been developed and refined over this period. Currently, that architecture is based on evolutionary principles. This chapter outlines the cognitive architecture used by cognitive load theory and provides a general indicator of its relevance to instructional design issues associated with multimedia instruction.

Keywords

evolutionary principlescognitive load theoryhuman cognitive architecturebiologically secondary knowledgenatural selection
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning , pp. 73 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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