Cognitive load theory (CLT) (Sweller 1988, 1998, 2010) provides us a guiding framework for designing instructional materials. CLT differentiates three subtypes of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. The three cognitive loads are theorized based on the number of simultaneously processed elements in working memory.…

Two experiments were conducted to study overshadowing of extinction in a conditioned taste aversion preparation. In both experiments, aversive conditioning with sucrose was followed by extinction treatment with either sucrose alone or in compound with another taste, citric acid. Experiment 1 employed a simultaneous compound extinction treatment…

Delivered as a lecture August 26, 1970 in Washington, D.C. (RS)

Research supported by grants to the University of Minnesota, Center for Research in Human Learning, from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota. (DD)

There is an active debate within the field of phonology concerning the cognitive status of substantive phonetic factors such as ease of articulation and perceptual distinctiveness. A new framework is proposed in which substance acts as a bias, or prior, on phonological learning. Two experiments tested this framework with a method in which…

This is the final report of a series of 19 experiments designed to study impasses in the learning of skills with a strong perceptual component. Several series of experiments were designed with the purpose of producing experimentally manipulable impasses or plateaus in the course of learning. Over 200 subjects (humans and animals) in learning…

The results of a number of experiments with the memorizing of several different subject-matters are presented in such a way that the relationship between number of opportunities for error (word elements faded) and number of errors actually made can be observed for individuals and groups. The particular selection of word elements to be taught by…

Mathematics educators have found sociocultural models of teaching and learning to be powerful in their ability to describe and support the pursuit of instruction based on recent standards documents (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 1989, 2000). These models of instruction, however, have been criticized for their lack of…

Differences in levels of subject matter learning at the university level were explored to determine how a learning task is approached between those who are successful and those who are less successful. Students read a selected social science text, (Paul Samuelson's "Economics", for example), related the material learned, answered content…