The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Cognitive load as a factor in the structuring of technical material.
Abstract
The authors investigated the usefulness of cognitive concepts in the instruction of technical material.
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“The basic idea of cognitive load theory is that cognitive capacity in working memory is limited, so that if a learning task requires too much capacity, learning will be hampered.”
From Cognitive load theory, educational research, and instructional design: some food for thought (2010) · cites this paper as Sweller et al. 1990
Citations
Cites
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
Self-citationChase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2 · Cited by 4,479
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Self‐Explanations: How Students Study and Use Examples in Learning to Solve Problems
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Michelene, T. H., Glaser, R. A., & Rees, E. T. (1981) · Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) · Cited by 1,529
The Use of Worked Examples as a Substitute for Problem Solving in Learning Algebra
Sweller, J., & Cooper, G. A. (1985) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1207/s1532690xci0201_3 · Cited by 1,214
Self-citationWhy are some problems hard? Evidence from Tower of Hanoi
Kotovsky, K., Hayes, J. R., & Simon, H. A. (1985) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(85)90009-x · Cited by 722
Cited by
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Mayer, R. E. (2009) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511811678 · Cited by 7,800
Mayer, R. (2020) · doi:10.1017/9781316941355 · Cited by 7,777
Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design
Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. G. W. C. (1998) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1023/a:1022193728205 · Cited by 6,023
Self-citationCognitive 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
Self-citationCognitive Load Theory and the Format of Instruction
Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1991) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1207/s1532690xci0804_2 · Cited by 2,894
Self-citationPaas, F. G. W. C. (1992) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.84.4.429 · Cited by 2,150
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
Self-citationKalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3801_4 · Cited by 1,927
Self-citationMultimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions?
Mayer, R. E. (1997) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3201_1 · Cited by 1,533
Why Some Material Is Difficult to Learn
Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1994) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1207/s1532690xci1203_1 · Cited by 1,455
Self-citationDoes discovery-based instruction enhance learning?
Alfieri, L., Brooks, P. J., Aldrich, N. J., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2011) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0021017 · Cited by 1,338
Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (1998) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.90.2.312 · Cited by 1,315
Cognitive load theory, educational research, and instructional design: some food for thought
de Jong, T. (2010) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-009-9110-0 · Cited by 1,180
“This research field finds its roots in work by Sweller and colleagues in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Chandler and Sweller 1991; Sweller 1988, 1989; Sweller et al. 1990).”
BackgroundPaas, 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
External cognition: how do graphical representations work?
Scaife, M., & Rogers, Y. (1996) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1006/ijhc.1996.0048 · Cited by 1,066
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
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
Reducing cognitive load by mixing auditory and visual presentation modes.
Mousavi, S. Y., Low, R., & Sweller, J. (1995) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.87.2.319 · Cited by 995
Self-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
THE SPLIT‐ATTENTION EFFECT AS A FACTOR IN THE DESIGN OF INSTRUCTION
CHANDLER, P., & SWELLER, J. (1992) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1992.tb01017.x · Cited by 767
Self-citationMeasurement of Cognitive Load in Instructional Research
Paas, F. G. W. C., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Adam, J. J. (1994) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/pms.1994.79.1.419 · Cited by 731
Cognitive Load Theory: How Many Types of Load Does It Really Need?
Kalyuga, S. (2011) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-010-9150-7 · Cited by 725
Evidence for Cognitive Load Theory
Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1991) · Cognition and Instruction · doi:10.1207/s1532690xci0804_5 · Cited by 543
Self-citationWhen problem solving is superior to studying worked examples.
Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., Tuovinen, J., & Sweller, J. (2001) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.3.579 · Cited by 548
Self-citationEffects 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
Evolution of human cognitive architecture
Sweller, J. (2003) · Psychology of Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/s0079-7421(03)01015-6 · Cited by 511
Self-citationMultimedia instructions and cognitive load theory: Effects of modality and cueing
Tabbers, H. K., Martens, R. L., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2004) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1348/000709904322848824 · Cited by 478
Sweller, J. (2004) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1023/b:truc.0000021808.72598.4d · Cited by 470
Self-citationIntegrating information: A meta-analysis of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects
Ginns, P. (2006) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.10.001 · Cited by 403
Applying learning theories and instructional design models for effective instruction
Khalil, M. K., & Elkhider, I. A. (2016) · Advances in Physiology Education · doi:10.1152/advan.00138.2015 · Cited by 372
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
The Role of Visual Indicators in Dual Sensory Mode Instruction
Jeung, H., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1997) · Educational Psychology · doi:10.1080/0144341970170307 · Cited by 295
Self-citationvan Merriënboer, J. J. G., Jelsma, O., & Paas, F. G. W. C. (1992) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/bf02297047 · Cited by 265
Cognitive Load Theory: Historical Development and Relation to Other Theories
Moreno, R., & Park, B. (2010) · Cognitive Load Theory · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511844744.003 · Cited by 204
The 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
Self-citationTraining Older Adults to Use Automatic Teller Machines
Rogers, W. A., Fisk, A. D., Mead, S. E., Walker, N., & Cabrera, E. F. (1996) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1518/001872096778701935 · Cited by 118
W. M. Van Gerven, F. G. W. C. P. (2000) · Educational Gerontology · doi:10.1080/03601270050133874 · Cited by 81
Managing One's Own Cognitive Load when Evidence of Split Attention is Present
Roodenrys, K., Agostinho, S., Roodenrys, S., & Chandler, P. (2012) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.2889 · Cited by 70
Self-citationPillay, H. K. (1994) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/bf00892159 · Cited by 52
Kablan, Z., & Erden, M. (2008) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.07.002 · Cited by 51
Pointing and tracing enhance computer-based learning
Ginns, P., & King, V. (2021) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-021-09997-0 · Cited by 31
The Split-Attention Principle in Multimedia Learning
Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (2021) · The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning · doi:10.1017/9781108894333.020 · Cited by 18
Self-citationPyke, W., Lunau, J., & Javadi, A.-H. (2025) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218241308143 · Cited by 15
“Second, the design of high-quality worked examples is challenging, particularly if these require integration of multiple information sources, which could lead to a higher extraneous cognitive load (Sweller et al., 1990, 1998; Tarmizi & Sweller, 1988; Ward & Sweller, 1990).”
CoWME: a general framework to evaluate cognitive workload during multimodal interaction
Calandra, D. M., Caso, A., Cutugno, F., Origlia, A., & Rossi, S. (2013) · Proceedings of the 15th ACM on International conference on multimodal interaction · doi:10.1145/2522848.2522867 · Cited by 7
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
Metadata
- Authors
- Sweller, J., Chandler, P., Tierney, P., & Cooper, M.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Published
- 1990-06
- Volume
- 119
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 176-192
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W1998901892
- Cited by
- 629
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 8.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (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 methodologies and cognitive development
- Keywords
- cognitive load, engineering materials, instructional design, technical instruction
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