What is Cognitive Load?

What is the definition of 'cognitive load'?

According to Malamed (2020), cognitive load is defined as, "the total amount of mental activity imposed on working memory in any one instant." The working memory, or what has been previously known as short-term memory, can hold a limited amount of information at a time. If too much information is being introduced too quickly, we risk the chance of experiencing cognitive overload, where this information will be difficult to process.

What are some key terms to keep in mind?

• Intrinsic load - The essential information that is being introduced in which we have no control over.

• Extrinsic load - The learning environment that affects the learning task. In other words, it is the procedures or the instructions that align with the intrinsic load. The more complex the instructions, the less space available for the necessary instrinsic load information.