{"id":32607,"date":"2018-11-07T06:30:18","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T11:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stagingweb.trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=32607"},"modified":"2018-10-31T14:08:12","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T18:08:12","slug":"what-a-load-of-cognition-the-crucial-importance-of-cognitive-load-in-training","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/content-development\/what-a-load-of-cognition-the-crucial-importance-of-cognitive-load-in-training\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Load of \u2026 Cognition! The Crucial Importance of Cognitive Load in Training"},"author":27,"featured_media":32609,"template":"","tags":[3050,226,981,2421],"class_list":["post-32607","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cognitive-load","tag-instructional-design","tag-memory","tag-psychology","global_topic_tax-content-development"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Jordan Birnbaum","author_image":32608,"author_bio":"Jordan Birnbaum is the chief behavioral economist at ADP.","excerpt":"As a behavioral economist, nothing irks me more than the misconception that human beings are, generally speaking, mentally lazy. Human beings are not inherently lazy \u2013 we\u2019re inherently efficient.","main_content":"As a behavioral economist, nothing irks me more than the misconception that human beings are, generally speaking, mentally lazy. This false premise is based on the observation that people often don\u2019t think things through, particularly when it comes to decision-making.\r\n\r\nHuman beings are not inherently lazy \u2013 we\u2019re inherently efficient. We don\u2019t have unlimited supplies of mental energy. Therefore, we have to reserve it so it is available when and where we need it most over the course of the day. This necessary efficiency is articulated in Daniel Kahneman\u2019s book \u201cThinking Fast and Slow.\u201d He describes two systems of thinking: System 1, which is fast, intuitive, emotional and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, deliberate, logical and conscious. Because System 2 thinking is much more work, we spend as much time engaged in System 1 thinking as possible. This behavior is not lazy; it helps to ensure that we have the energy for System 2 when it is necessary. System 1 thinking explains why biases (mental tendencies) and heuristics (mental shortcuts) play such a significant role in human behavior: They help us to reach decisions faster, and by exerting less mental effort.\r\n\r\nFittingly, there seems to be a bias against the term \u201cbias,\u201d in part because the term has become synonymous with racial bias (which actually does deserve our collective scorn). Scientifically speaking, however, biases are not inherently bad; they are a coping mechanism for the inherent challenges of being human. Given the frequent existential need to make decisions with insufficient time and information, we literally could not survive without them.\r\n\r\nAll of this discussion on systems of thinking and bias is to highlight one underlying point: The human mind, while astonishingly powerful, is also incredibly limited. Enter the concept of cognitive load<\/a>.","full_width":false,"content_band":[{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":"The human mind, while astonishingly powerful, is also incredibly limited."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_area","wysiwyg":"Cognitive load theory, as first articulated by John Sweller in the late 1980s, is concerned with the amount of information that short-term memory can hold at any given time. According to many estimates, it usually allows for seven items or fewer and remains readily available for 15 seconds to one minute. Anything beyond seven items exceeds capacity for the overwhelming majority of people. Pushing more information would be like pouring water into a cup that is already full \u2013 nothing would be retained, and you\u2019d end up with a big mess on the table. When we design learning programs, we have to be conscious not to overload trainees with too much new information at once, because if we do, they will not learn.\r\n\r\nTo think strategically about cognitive load, it helps to consider the three different types:\r\n