Four Ways of Considering Emotion in Cognitive Load Theory

We discuss four ways in which emotion may relate to cognitive load during learning. One perspective describes emotions as extraneous cognitive load, competing for the limited resources of working memory by requiring the processing of task-extra or task-irrelevant information. Another perspective sho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational psychology review 2019-06, Vol.31 (2), p.339-359
Main Authors: Plass, Jan L., Kalyuga, Slava
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child and School Psychology
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive load
Cognitive Processes
Difficulty Level
Education
Educational Psychology
Emotional Response
Emotions
Learning
Learning and Instruction
Motivation
Psychological aspects
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Self Control
Social aspects
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Summary:We discuss four ways in which emotion may relate to cognitive load during learning. One perspective describes emotions as extraneous cognitive load, competing for the limited resources of working memory by requiring the processing of task-extra or task-irrelevant information. Another perspective shows that encoding, storage, and retrieval of information are affected by emotion even before awareness of the material, and that emotion may directly affect memory by broadening or narrowing cognitive resources, and by mechanisms such as mood-dependent and mood-congruent processing. A third perspective describes how emotion may affect intrinsic cognitive load, such as when emotion regulation is part of the learning outcomes. We also discuss a dual-channel assumption for emotions. A final perspective is that emotion affects motivation, and, in turn, mental effort investment. These four ways of considering emotion as part of CLT are best understood when taking an interval view of cognitive load.
ISSN:1040-726X
1573-336X
DOI:10.1007/s10648-019-09473-5