Runninghead:COGNITIVELOADTHEORYINSOCIALSTUDIES

CognitiveLoadTheoryinSocialStudies:Types,Effects,andInstructionalStrategies
PatriciaCardoso
UniversityofScranton
November20,2015

COGNITIVELOADTHEORYINSOCIALSTUDIES

Abstract
Cognitive load theory refers to the amount of mental effort being used in working
memory.Whentheamountofinputexceedsthecognitivecapacityofanindividual,instruction
isineffective,leavingthelearneroverwhelmedandperplexed.Becauseofthecomplexsubject
matterwithinthefieldofSocialStudies,cognitiveloadisunusuallyhigh,howevermoststudies
focusoncognitiveloadinthefieldsofMathorScience.Thepurposeofthispaperwastoanswer
thefollowingquestion:Whatarethetypesandeffectsofcognitiveload,andwhatinstructional
strategiescanbeusedintheSocialStudiesclassroomtocombattheseeffects?Herethethree
typesofcognitiveloadwillbedefined,alongwiththeeffectsofcognitiveloadinregardsto
SocialStudies,andsomeinstructionalstrategiestoreducecognitiveloadwillalsobeidentified.
Therearemanymoreeffectsandinstructionalstrategiesthatareaproductofcognitiveloadbut
forthisessay,onlytheonesdirectlyrelatedtoSocialStudieswereused.
Keywords:cognitiveload,SocialStudies,instructionalstrategies,splitattentioneffect,
redundancyeffect,modalityeffect

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CognitiveLoadTheoryinSocialStudies:
Types,Effects,andInstructionalStrategies
OutofallthecontentareasSocialStudiestendstobethehardesttomasterduetobeing
conceptuallydense,requiringspecializedjargonandcontaininglowfrequencyvocabularyterms.
Thisresultsinahighcognitiveload,whichreferstotheamountofeffortbeingusedinworking
memory;whentoomucheffortisrequiredinworkingmemorythebrainisunabletohandlethat
overload,thisinturnimpairslearning.Forthisreasoncarefullyconsideredinstructionaldesignis
necessarytoreducecognitiveload.Whentoomuchinformationisbeingpresentedatthesame
time,thebrainisunabletohandlethat.Thisoverloadworksmuchlikeacomputerwhentoo
manywindowsareopenallatonce:thesystemslowsdownormayfreezebecauseitisbeing
forcedtodoandprocesstoomanythingssimultaneously.Thesamecanbesaidwiththebrain,
whentheamountofinputexceedsthecognitivecapacityofanindividual,thelearnerisobligated
toprocessinformationtooquicklyforcinghisorhersystem(thelearningprocess)tobreak
downcausingstress,confusionand/orfrustrationforthestudentandresultsinlesseffective
learning.
Unlike working memory, longterm memory is limitless, it can hold a neverending
amountofknowledgebutinorderforthatinformationtogettolongtermmemoryitmustpass
throughseveralprocessors.Incomingstimuliareprocessedbyoursensorymemoryusingvisual,
auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory registers, through the process of attention and
perception those stimuli move on to working memory, where information is processed for
meaning. AccordingtoPaas&Ayres,workingmemoryislimited;beingonlyabletoprocess
41bitsofinformationatatimeforadurationofonly30seconds(2014,p.191).Without
rehearsal,andwithtoomanybitsofdatainterferingwitheachother,thatinformationislostand

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doesnotmoveontolongtermmemory.Whenthereisaheavycognitiveloadofunnecessary
information,itbecomesextremelyhardforthelearnertodifferentiatebetweenwhatisimportant
andwhatisnot;thisimpairsrehearsalandthereforeinformationcannotbestoredandencoded
ontolongtermmemory.Concurrently,whenprocessingnewinformationinworkingmemory
we retrieve previously learned content from longterm memory to make sense and make a
connectiontowhatwearecurrentlylearning.
InSocialStudiesretrievalofbackgroundinformationiscontinuouslynecessary.Students
arealwaysrequiredtousewhattheyalreadyknowtomakesenseofnewcontent.Itishardto
fully comprehend the Constitution without a complete understanding of the Articles of the
Confederation,theAmericanRevolution,andtheDeclarationofIndependence.Merrinboer&
Swellersaiditbesttheystatethatincognitiveloadtheory,
thelimitationsofworkingmemoryinthelearningofnewtaskstogetherwithits
abilitytocooperatewithanunlimitedlongtermmemoryforfamiliartasksenable
human beings to deal effectively with complex problems and acquire highly
complexknowledgeandskills(2005,p.147).
Additionally, if a task requires too much mental capacity learning will be hampered (Jong,
2009).Whentheamountofinputexceedsthecognitivecapacityofanindividual,learningdoes
notoccurandisinsteadreplacedwithconfusionandfrustrationbecausethemindisbeingasked
todomorethanitcanhandle;thisisafrequentoccurrenceinSocialStudiesinstruction.
There have been three types of cognitive load identified: intrinsic, extraneous, and
germane(Choi,Merrinboer,Paas,2014;Jong,2009; Merrinboer&Sweller,2005;Paas&
Ayres,2014;Sweller,2010;Yeung,1999). Intrinsicreferstocognitiveloadthatisnecessaryfor

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learningandcannotbealteredthroughinstructionalinterventions.Extraneouscognitiveloadis
theunnecessaryinformationthatispresentedalongsideinstructionthatisnotnecessaryandcan
impair learning. Germane cognitive load is different than the rest because it is not the
informationwearelearningbutrathertheschemas,orwayweorganizethatlearningandstoreit
inlongtermmemory.Furthermore,therearemultipleeffectsthatcanhappenasaresultof
cognitiveload;themostlikelytohappeninSocialStudiesinstructionarethesplitattention
effect,themodalityeffect,andtheredundancyeffect.Therearemanymorethatcoverother
disciplines,butthefocushereistooutlinethedifficultiesinSocialStudiesandtheinstructional
strategiesthatcanaidininstructionsuchasscaffolding,chunking,andvisuals.
ResearchCriteria
Theinitialresearchquestionwasasfollows:Whatinstructionaltechniquescanbeused
toreducecognitiveloadinSocialStudiesinstruction?.Researchoncognitiveloadtheoryinthe
fieldofSocialStudiesislimited,howevergiventheamountandcomplexityofinformationthat
needstobeprocessedinanyoftheSocialStudiessubjects,itwouldmakesensethatstudents
experiencehighcognitiveloadinthisarea.Underthislogic,onewouldassumethattherewould
beanabundanceofresearchinthisareabutthatisnotthecase.Becauseofthespecificityofthis
topicandthelimitedamountofinformation,theresearchquestionsmorphedinto:Whatare
someinstructionalstrategiestoreducecognitiveload?.
However,withtheongoingresearchintothetopic,theresearchquestionwasfurther
revisedtobe:Whatarethetypesandeffectsofcognitiveload,andwhatinstructionalstrategies
canbeusedintheSocialStudies classroomtocombattheseeffects?.Although,therewas
virtuallynoresearchonthistopic,relatedresearchandpersonalexpertisewereusedtoapply

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generalities about cognitive load to Social Studies. For example, there are many effects in
cognitiveloadtheory,butthreewerechosenthatcoulddirectlyapplytoSocialStudiescontent.
Fromthere,researchregardinginstructionalstrategieswasexploredtohelpaddresstheissue.
Whensearchingforarticlestoanswerthisresearchquestion,thefollowingwordswere
enteredintodatabasessuchasProQuestEducation,ProQuestPsychology,andAcademicSearch
Elite:cognitiveload,cognitiveloadtheory,instructionalstrategies,socialstudies,split
attention effect, redundancy effect, germane cognitive load, intrinsic cognitive load,
extraneouscognitiveload,graphicorganizers,scaffolding,chunking,visuals,alternate
texts.
Analysis
(1)Types
There are three types of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic
cognitiveloadinvolvestheinherentlevelofdifficultyassociatedwithaspecifictopic.More
specifically,material that contains a large number of interactive elements is regarded as more
difficult than material with a smaller number of elements and/or with a low interactivity, (Jong,
2009, p. 106). Social Studies subjects have a high level of interactivity, which means that the
elements cannot be learned in isolation and can only be understood when relationships to other
elements are made. Thiskindofcognitiveloadcannotbealteredbyinstructionalinterventions
becauseitisdeterminedbytheinteractionbetweenthenatureofthematerialsbeinglearnedand
theexpertiseofthelearner,(Merrinboer&Sweller,2005,p.150).Forexample,mostpeople
cantellyouwhothepresidentis,butfewwillbeabletolisthisexactduties;mostpeoplewillbe
abletotellyoutheBillofRightshas10amendments,butfewwillbeabletotellyouwhateach

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ofthemareormean.Whilethiscannotbechangedthroughtheuseofinterventions,techniques
tomanagecomplexitycanbeappliedtohelpwiththeload.
Extraneouscognitiveloadisthewayinformationortasksarepresentedtoalearner;its
the unnecessary information that, many times, is included in instruction but is not really
necessary for learning. This type of cognitive load can be changed through the use of
instructionalinterventionsbecauseitisdirectlyrelatedtothematerial,makingeasilyavoidable
throughtheuseofeffectiveinstructionaldesign.Itisimportanttonotoverloadtheprocessors
andnotpresentanythinginonlyoneformat;whenmultiplesourcesofinformationthatare
requiredforunderstandingareallpresentedinoneformtheyarelikelytooverloadthatcertain
processor/register (Merrinboer & Sweller, 2005, p.150). By presenting information through
morethanoneformatsomeofthatcognitiveloadshiftsontotheotherregisterandliftstheload
offtheother.Whenintrinsicandgermaneloadishigh,extraneousloadshouldbelow;the
moreworkingmemoryresourcesthatmustbedevotedtoextraneouscognitiveload,thefewer
willbeavailabletodealwithintrinsiccognitiveload,reducinglearning,(Sweller,2010,p.126).
Meaningthatwhencontentisadvancedandthelearnerisabeginnertheamountofunnecessary
informationshouldbelimited,oncethelearnerbecomesmoreofanexpertonthesubject,the
extraneous load can increase because the learner is able to see beyond that unnecessary
information and focus on only the necessary content. For example, when showing a video,
avoidingtheuseofsubtitleswouldreducecognitiveloadbecausethelearnerwillbefocusedon
thevideobeingplayedratherthanthewordsonthescreen.
Finally,germaneloadissimplytheworkthatisputintocreatingapermanentstoreof
knowledge; it is the construction of schemas, or the process of organizing and storing

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informationinlongtermmemory.Schemasareorganizedpatternsofthoughtorbehaviorthat
organizecategoriesofinformationandtherelationshipsamongthem.Swellerdefinesgermane
cognitiveloadasthefunctionoftheworkingmemoryresourcesdevotedtotheinteracting
elementsthatdetermineintrinsiccognitiveload,(2010,p.126).Thistypeofcognitiveload
differentiatesbetweentheothertwobecausethisoneistheintendedoutcomeoflearningrather
thanthecontentbeingpresented.Thereforegermanecognitiveloadisthedesirableoutcomeof
instruction because it constructs schemas to store and organize information from working
memoryintolongtermmemory;learningistheconstructionofschemas.
(2)Effects
CognitiveloadtheoryresearchhasbeenmainlyfocusedonthesubjectsofMathand
Science,producingcountlesseffectsofcognitiveloadwithinthosedisciplines.Howeverthree
effectsappearedtobeapplicabletosocialstudies instruction:splitattentioneffect,modality
effect,andredundancyeffect.
Thesplitattentioneffectoccurswhentheseparate presentation of domain elements
require simultaneous processing, (Choi, Merrinboer&Paas,2014,p.228).Yuengdescribes
splitattention effect as: when learners must split their attention between and mentally
integratemultiplesourcesofinformation,(1999,p.198).Anexampleofthiseffectiswhen
students are given a worksheet of vocabulary words where they have to write down the
definition,theyhavetosearchthroughthetexttofindthedefinitionswhichtakestheirattention
fromthewordputsitonthedefinitionandthenbackontheword.AsYeungstates,when
readersencounteranunfamiliarwordtheyneedtoleavethetext,turntothevocabularylist,
temporarilystoreitsmeaning,andthenreverttothetextandtrytoincorporatethemeaningto

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intothetext,(1999,p.198).Whatseemslikeasimpletasktomostcanbedifficultforastudent
whohasjuststartedtolearnhowtolookforvocabularywords,aswellasthosewithlearning
disabilities and English language learners. Rather than presenting multiple sources of
informationonthesametopic,presentonesingleintegratedsourceofinformation;i.e.physically
integratethedefinitionintothetext.
Themodalityeffectoccurswheninstructionaldesignusesonlyoneofthesubsystemsof
working memory. More capacity can be used when both the visual and auditory parts of
working memory are addressedmaterial is more efficiently presented as a combination of
visual and auditory material,(Choi, Merrinboer&Paas,2014,p.230).Apossiblesolutionisto
replace a written explanatory text and another source of visual information with a spoken
explanatorytextandavisualsourceofinformation(Merrinboer&Sweller,2005,p.151).For
exampleratherthantellstudentsabouttheeventsofSeptember11,2001,useavideotoshow
them what happened. This reduces cognitive load because both the visual and auditory
processorsofworkingmemoryarebeingusedthereforetheyaresharingtheloadratherthan
overloadingoneprocessor.
The redundancy effect happens when multiple sources of information, which can be
understoodontheirown,arepresentedtothelearner;anunnecessaryloadoccurswhenlearners
mustcoordinatematerialshavingthesameinformation . Teachersshouldinsteadreplacethose
multiple sources with one source, reducing the need to process redundant and unnecessary
information(Merrinboer&Sweller,2005,p.150).
(3)InstructionalStrategies

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Therearemanyinstructionalstrategiesthathavethepotentialtohelpwiththeseeffects:
scaffolding, chunking, and visuals; some may even address multiple problems. Scaffolding
enables studentstocompleteataskandachieveagoalthatwouldbeunachievablewithout
support.Theteacherprovidesthestudentwithatemporaryframeworkandoncethelearner
achieves that goal then the support is gradually removed (Vacca, 2008, p. 852). Graphic
organizersprovideawaytoorganizeandoutline,otherwise,scatteredideas.InUSHistory,a
teachermayallowastudenttoorganizethecomplexityofWorldWarIIusingaconceptmap
where the words World War II is written in the center with stemming bubbles including:
causes, players, battles, results/consequences. That graphic organizer may be used
throughouttheunit,butonceenoughinstructiontimehasbeenspentonthatinformation,the
graphicorganizermaybetakenawaybecausethelearnerisnolongerabeginnerandhasalready
formedtheproperschemaintheirlongtermmemory.
Chunkingisanotherinstructionalstrategythatmaybeusedtoreducecognitiveload.
Whenateacherorganizesinstructionandcategorizestopicstheinstructionismorelikelytobe
effective. Working memorycan holdonly 41bits ofinformationat atimesosplittingup
instructionintosmallerchunksallowsthelearnermoretimetorehearsethenewmaterialand
transferittolongtermmemory.Byalreadyorganizingmaterial,workingmemorydoesnothave
tooverworkitselfbydevelopingschemas;theyarealreadypresentedsoallthelearnerhastodo
isrehearseandrepeat.Weregularlyusechunkingwhentryingtomemorizeaphonenumber,10
digitsaretoomuchforpeopletorememberwhichiswhyphonenumbersintheUSarechunked
intoa334sequence.AUSHistoryexamplewouldbe:whenhavingstudentsmemorizethe

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presidents,splitthemintoeight groups offive,orwhenhaving them memorizethe Bill of

Rights,focusfirstonthefirstfiveandthenmoveontotheotherfive.
Visualsofferconcreterepresentationsofabstractconceptsthatarememorableformost
students,(Cruz&Thornton,2012).Theyareextremelyflexibleandeasytoimplementintoany
subjectandlesson.Visualscanincludethingssuchas:photographs,drawings,paintings,murals,
maps, political cartoon, propaganda posters, graphic organizers, videos, movies, etc. When
pairedwithinstructionvisualsusebothauditoryandvisualprocessorsmakinginformationeasier
tounderstandandsplittingtheloadbetweenthosetwoprocessorsratherthanputtingtheentire
loadonjustone.ShowingavideooftheatomicbombdroppingonHiroshima,thefallofthe
TwinTowersinNewYorkCityonSeptember11,orthefalloftheBerlinWallisamuchmore
effectivewayofteachingstudentsabouttheseevents,ratherthanjusthavingaplainlecture.
Conclusion

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Cognitiveloadcanimposeanunnecessaryburdenonstudentsandtheirabilitytolearn;
whileoneformofcognitiveloadisinevitable(intrinsic)theotherisnot(extraneous).Notall
extraneouscognitiveloadisproblematic,manytimesitcanbeusedtosupportinstructionandas
educatorswemuststrivetofindthebalancebetweenintrinsicandextraneouscognitiveload
while providing enough tools to develop germane cognitive load. Although the research of
cognitiveloadinthefieldofsocialstudiesislimited,itcanbeconcludedfromthisexploration
thatthesplitattention,modality,andredundancyeffectsaretheonesmostlikelytohappenin
theteachingofhistory,civics,economics,andgeography.SocialStudiescontentishardenough;
thelastthingstudentsneedisaheftyamountofunnecessaryorredundantinformation.Through
theuseofeffectiveinstructionalstrategiessuchaschunking,scaffolding,andvisualsthereis
potential to significantly reduce extraneous cognitive load making instruction more
effective.References
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