Background

When John Sweller wrote his seminal paper on Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) in 1988 (Sweller, 1988) he was primarily interested in the differences in how experts and novices approached problem solving for learning and education. As the community of interest grew, researchers realized that how the information was presented to a learner (problem-solver) could help to guide problem solving and therefore improve learning and retention. This research occurred at a time when the age of digital communications and computer usage was exploding across the globe. During this time Researchers such as Richard Mayer (Mayer & Moreno, 2003) attempted to develop heuristics that would help people optimize the display of digital information for learners. Still others (Lavie, 2010; Lavie, Hirst, de Fockert, & Viding, 2004) started looking at the other side of the equation, i.e., human attention and understanding, to try to understand how that attribute of the human eye-brain system could best be guided to make more efficient use of the displayed information (Figure 1). That research determined that to focus attention on the desired information, the distracting effects of all other information must be reduced or removed. This led to more research in ways to optimize low cognitive load learning and work environments. Continue reading “PART I: The Impact of Important New Upgrades to Cognitive Load Theory on The Performance of Warriors Using Hi-Tech Systems” →