Cognitive Load Theory: How Many Types of Load Does It Really Need?
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The shift to germane resources aligns better with finite working memory capacity, focusing on optimising instructional design to maximise use of cognitive resources for productive learning.
“This shift aligns better with the finite capacity of working memory, focusing on optimising instructional design to maximise the use of cognitive resources for productive learning activities (Kalyuga, 2011; Sweller et al., 2019).”
From Does difficulty moderate learning? A comparative analysis of the desirable difficulties framework and cognitive load theory (2025) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
Reducing extraneous load supports learning, while reducing germane load undermines it.
“The reduction of extraneous load supports learning; reducing germane load undermines it, if one considers that the very work that constructs schemas is the work that is eliminated.”
From <b>Effects of Partial vs. Full Cognitive Offloading with Generative AI on Learning Retention </b> (2026) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
Inferring sources of load from the combination of task performance and rated mental effort likely results in a circular argument.
“However, such inferences from outcome likely result in a circular argument (Kalyuga, 2011; Kirschner et al., 2011) and should be avoided.”
From Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load (2017) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
GCL, unlike ICL or ECL, is not imposed by the learning material.
“It is argued that GCL, other than ICL or ECL, is not imposed by the learning material.”
From Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load (2017) · cites this paper as Kalyuga (2011)
Germane resources in working memory need to be allocated to deal with the intrinsic load resulting from the learning material.
“there are germane resources needed in working memory that need to be allocated to deal with the intrinsic load resulting from the learning material.”
From Development and Validation of Two Instruments Measuring Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load (2017) · cites this paper as Kalyuga (2011)
Germane cognitive load involves relating relevant long-term memory or contextual information to new elements and concerns working memory resources devoted to intrinsic load.
“This type of load arises from relating relevant information from long-term memory or context to the new information elements (Sweller, 2010;Sweller et al., 2011) and as such pertains to the working memory resources allocated to dealing with intrinsic cognitive load (Kalyuga, 2011;Sweller, 2010).”
From Effects of pairs of problems and examples on task performance and different types of cognitive load (2014) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
If germane load is working memory resources allocated to intrinsic load, then germane and intrinsic load may be hard to distinguish.
“If germane cognitive load pertains to the working memory resources allocated to dealing with intrinsic cognitive load, as suggested recently by Sweller (2010) and Kalyuga (2011), it may be difficult to distinguish between germane cognitive load and intrinsic cognitive load.”
From Effects of pairs of problems and examples on task performance and different types of cognitive load (2014) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
The findings are consistent with the reconceptualization of germane cognitive load as working memory resources devoted to dealing with intrinsic cognitive load (Kalyuga, 2011; Sweller, 2010; Sweller et al., 2011).
“The findings appear to be in line with the recently proposed reconceptualization of germane cognitive load as referring to the actual working memory resources devoted to dealing with intrinsic cognitive load (Kalyuga, 2011;Sweller, 2010;Sweller et al., 2011).”
From Effects of pairs of problems and examples on task performance and different types of cognitive load (2014) · cites this paper as Kalyuga, 2011
Cites
Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of Empirical and Theoretical Research
(1988) · Advances in Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0166-4115(08)62386-9 · Cited by 15,003 · see citing works
Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning
Sweller, J. (1988) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/0364-0213(88)90023-7 · Cited by 11,048 · see citing works
Mayer, R. (2020) · doi:10.1017/9781316941355 · Cited by 7,777 · see citing works
Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2 · Cited by 4,479 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, expert chess players in the classical experiments of De Groot (1965) and Chase and Simon (1973) recalled greater numbers of figures from real game situations than novices due to larger chunks (figure patterns) in their knowledge base.”
Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design
Sweller, J. (1994) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/0959-4752(94)90003-5 · Cited by 3,801 · cited 2× · see citing works
“between essential elements of information that should be considered in working memory at the same time (element interactivity) (Sweller 1994).”
BackgroundSelf-explanations: How students study and use examples in learning to solve problems
Chi, M. (1989) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/0364-0213(89)90002-5 · Cited by 2,287 · see citing works
Element Interactivity and Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane Cognitive Load
Sweller, J. (2010) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-010-9128-5 · Cited by 2,020 · see citing works
Paas, F. G. W. C., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1994) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.86.1.122 · Cited by 1,198 · see citing works
Expertise Reversal Effect and Its Implications for Learner-Tailored Instruction
Kalyuga, S. (2007) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-007-9054-3 · Cited by 1,056 · cited 2× · see citing works
“It would indicate only a potentially expected magnitude of intrinsic cognitive load for a specific person rather than its actual level (Kalyuga 2007).”
BackgroundSelf-citationInstructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks
Paas, F. G. W. C., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1994) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/bf02213420 · Cited by 968 · see citing works
Renkl, A., & Atkinson, R. K. (2003) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3801_3 · Cited by 540 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Among the best known are self-explanations of worked example steps ( Renkl and Atkinson 2003 ) and studying examples with different rather than similar surface features to enhance the transferability of acquired knowledge (Paas and van Merrienboer 1994a).”
BackgroundEvolution of human cognitive architecture
Sweller, J. (2003) · Psychology of Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/s0079-7421(03)01015-6 · Cited by 511 · see citing works
Cierniak, G., Scheiter, K., & Gerjets, P. (2009) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2008.12.020 · Cited by 412 · see citing works
Marcus, N., Cooper, M., & Sweller, J. (1996) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.88.1.49 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Makransky, G., & Petersen, G. B. (2021) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-020-09586-2 · Cited by 1,438 · see citing works
Development of an instrument for measuring different types of cognitive load
Leppink, J., Paas, F., Van der Vleuten, C. P. M., Van Gog, T., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2013) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-013-0334-1 · Cited by 1,066 · see citing works
Skulmowski, A., & Xu, K. M. (2022) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-021-09624-7 · Cited by 678 · see citing works
Klepsch, M., Schmitz, F., & Seufert, T. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01997 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Effects of pairs of problems and examples on task performance and different types of cognitive load
Leppink, J., Paas, F., van Gog, T., van der Vleuten, C. P. M., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2014) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.12.001 · Cited by 520 · see citing works
Choi, H.-H., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (2014) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-014-9262-6 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
The evolution of cognitive load theory and its application to medical education
Leppink, J., & Van den Heuvel, A. (2015) · Perspectives on Medical Education · doi:10.1007/s40037-015-0192-x · Cited by 299 · see citing works
A Survey on Measuring Cognitive Workload in Human-Computer Interaction
Kosch, T., Karolus, J., Zagermann, J., Reiterer, H., Schmidt, A., & Woźniak, P. W. (2023) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3582272 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
“Hence, it becomes increasingly more challenging to maintain an overview of the most appropriate cognitive workload measurement modalities.”
Cognitive Load as Motivational Cost
Feldon, D. F., Callan, G., Juth, S., & Jeong, S. (2019) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-019-09464-6 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
What does germane load mean? An empirical contribution to the cognitive load theory
Debue, N., & van de Leemput, C. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01099 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
The Expertise Reversal Effect is a Variant of the More General Element Interactivity Effect
Chen, O., Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J. (2017) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-016-9359-1 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
“It must be reduced or eliminated (Kalyuga 2011) to provide more working memory resources to deal with intrinsic load, which enhances learning.”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe worked example effect, the generation effect, and element interactivity.
Chen, O., Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J. (2015) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000018 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Self-citationBrom, C., Stárková, T., & D'Mello, S. K. (2018) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2018.09.004 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Differentiating Different Types of Cognitive Load: a Comparison of Different Measures
Korbach, A., Brünken, R., & Park, B. (2018) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-017-9404-8 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Multimedia Design for Learning: An Overview of Reviews With Meta-Meta-Analysis
Noetel, M., Griffith, S., Delaney, O., Harris, N. R., Sanders, T., Parker, P., del Pozo Cruz, B., & Lonsdale, C. (2022) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543211052329 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
“Newer models of cognitive load theory do not describe this load as a different type of cognitive load, but instead as a type of intrinsic load for more complex schema construction (Kalyuga, 2011; Sweller, 2010).”
InfluentialYuksel, B. F., Oleson, K. B., Harrison, L., Peck, E. M., Afergan, D., Chang, R., & Jacob, R. J. (2016) · Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2858036.2858388 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
“While these studies have made progress one factor is repeatedly highlighted as the weak link in CLT studies and learning studies in general: the measurement of cognitive workload [10, 31, 24, 7].”
BackgroundMethodKrieglstein, F., Beege, M., Rey, G. D., Sanchez-Stockhammer, C., & Schneider, S. (2023) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-023-09738-0 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Wickens, C. D., Hutchins, S., Carolan, T., & Cumming, J. (2013) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/0018720812451994 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Hawlitschek, A., & Joeckel, S. (2017) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.040 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Using cognitive theory to facilitate medical education
Qiao, Y. Q., Shen, J., Liang, X., Ding, S., Chen, F. Y., Shao, L., Zheng, Q., & Ran, Z. H. (2014) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-79 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Measurement of cognitive load in multimedia learning: a comparison of different objective measures
Korbach, A., Brünken, R., & Park, B. (2017) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-017-9413-5 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Learning from failure: a meta-analysis of the empirical studies
Darabi, A., Arrington, T. L., & Sayilir, E. (2018) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-018-9579-9 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Cognitive Load Theory in Computing Education Research: A Review
Duran, R., Zavgorodniaia, A., & Sorva, J. (2022) · ACM Transactions on Computing Education · doi:10.1145/3483843 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Making an Effort Versus Experiencing Load
Klepsch, M., & Seufert, T. (2021) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.645284 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization
Skulmowski, A. (2023) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-023-09818-1 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“After a controversial debate (e.g., Kalyuga, 2011), the current iteration of CLT no longer considers germane cognitive load as a component that can obstruct working memory capacity (Sweller et al., 2019).”
BackgroundGraf, B., & Antoni, C. H. (2023) · European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1080/1359432x.2022.2118051 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Mei, P., Brewis, D. N., Nwaiwu, F., Sumanathilaka, D., Alva-Manchego, F., & Demaree-Cotton, J. (2025) · Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans · doi:10.1016/j.chbah.2025.100140 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“If ChatGPT alleviates the cognitive load required for writing, this may allow students to focus more on the creative aspects of their tasks (for more discussion of these ideas see Kalyuga, 2011; Paas & Sweller, 2014; Stadler et al., 2024).”
Jiang, D., Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J. (2018) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-017-9427-1 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationTowards an Analysis of Program Complexity From a Cognitive Perspective
Duran, R., Sorva, J., & Leite, S. (2018) · Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research · doi:10.1145/3230977.3230986 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Lui, A. L. C., Not, C., & Wong, G. K. W. (2023) · Journal of Science Education and Technology · doi:10.1007/s10956-023-10035-2 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Roelle, J., Lehmkuhl, N., Beyer, M.-U., & Berthold, K. (2015) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000010 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Two types of redundancy in multimedia learning: a literature review
Trypke, M., Stebner, F., & Wirth, J. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1148035 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Thomann, H., & Deutscher, V. (2025) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100686 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Zhang, Y., Tian, Y., Yao, L., Duan, C., Sun, X., & Niu, G. (2023) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2023.104167 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Ginns, P., Hu, F., & Bobis, J. (2020) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.3732 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Dönmez, O., Akbulut, Y., Telli, E., Kaptan, M., Özdemir, İ. H., & Erdem, M. (2022) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-022-11035-2 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Xu, Z., Song, T., & Lee, Y.-C. (2025) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103455 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Pyke, W., Lunau, J., & Javadi, A.-H. (2025) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218241308143 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“For instance, when learners engage deeply with complex material, the cognitive effort they expend can be seen as contributing to both the intrinsic and germane loads, blurring the lines between them (Greenberg & Zheng, 2023; Kalyuga, 2011).”
Computing Education Research Today
Fincher, S. A., Tenenberg, J., Dorn, B., Hundhausen, C., McCartney, R., & Murphy, L. (2019) · The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research · doi:10.1017/9781108654555.003 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The relationship between interleaving and variability effects: a cognitive load theory perspective
Chen, O., Retnowati, E., Castro-Alonso, J. C., Paas, F., & Sweller, J. (2023) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci13111138 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Alamri, J. M., & Alhalafawy, W. S. (2026) · International Journal of Technology in Education · doi:10.46328/ijte.8779
- Authors
- Kalyuga, S.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Kalyuga, Slava
- ORCID
- Kalyuga, Slava
- Venue
- Educational Psychology Review
- Published
- 2011-01-14
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-19
- ISSN
- 1040-726X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-336X
- OpenAlex
- W1988051129
- Cited by
- 725
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 96 · 2025: 98 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 72 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 21.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Educational Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
- Keywords
- cognitive load theory, germane load, intrinsic cognitive load, extraneous load, working memory, redundancy, instructional design
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
