The Interaction Between Text Modality and the Learner’s Modality Preference Influences Comprehension and Cognitive Load

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

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Cognitive Load Theory

10.1017/cbo9780511844744 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 150

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Load ◽

Cognitive Load Theory ◽

Load Theory

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Cognitive Load beim Lernen aus Lösungsbeispielen

Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie ◽

10.1024//1010-0652.17.2.93 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 93-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Alexander Renkl ◽

Hans Gruber ◽

Sandra Weber ◽

Thomas Lerche ◽

Karl Schweizer

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Load ◽

Dual Task

Zusammenfassung: Die Effektivität des Lernens aus Lösungsbeispielen im Vergleich zum Lernen durch Problemlösen wird derzeit mit der Cognitive Load-Theorie erklärt: Beim Lernen aus Lösungsbeispielen wird das Arbeitsgedächtnis weniger belastet, daher bleibt mehr Raum für Lern- und Verstehensprozesse. Um diese These direkt experimentell zu überprüfen, wurde das dual task-Paradigma eingesetzt. 80 Studierende der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften wurden auf die Zellen eines 2 × 2-faktoriellen Designs (Faktor 1: Lernen aus Lösungsbeispielen vs. Lernen durch Problemlösen; Faktor 2: mit vs. ohne Zweitaufgabe) verteilt. Der Lernstoff war Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung. Der Lernerfolg wurde mit einem Nachtest erfasst. Das Befundmuster hinsichtlich des Lernerfolgs und der Reaktionszeiten auf eine Zweitaufgabe in den vier experimentellen Gruppen stimmte mit den aus der Cognitive-Load-Theorie abgeleiteten Hypothesen überein.

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Complex Problem Solving and Worked Examples

Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie ◽

10.1024/1010-0652.23.2.129 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 129-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Florian Schmidt-Weigand ◽

Martin Hänze ◽

Rita Wodzinski

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Worked Examples ◽

Complex Problem ◽

Complex Problem Solving ◽

Strategic Learning ◽

Learning Behavior ◽

Worked Example ◽

8Th Grade

How can worked examples be enhanced to promote complex problem solving? N = 92 students of the 8th grade attended in pairs to a physics problem. Problem solving was supported by (a) a worked example given as a whole, (b) a worked example presented incrementally (i.e. only one solution step at a time), or (c) a worked example presented incrementally and accompanied by strategic prompts. In groups (b) and (c) students self-regulated when to attend to the next solution step. In group (c) each solution step was preceded by a prompt that suggested strategic learning behavior (e.g. note taking, sketching, communicating with the learning partner, etc.). Prompts and solution steps were given on separate sheets. The study revealed that incremental presentation lead to a better learning experience (higher feeling of competence, lower cognitive load) compared to a conventional presentation of the worked example. However, only if additional strategic learning behavior was prompted, students remembered the solution more correctly and reproduced more solution steps.

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Assessment of Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning Using Dual-Task Methodology

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027//1618-3169.49.2.109 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 109-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Roland Brünken ◽

Susan Steinbacher ◽

Jan L. Plass ◽

Detlev Leutner

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Load ◽

Dual Task ◽

Cognitive Load Theory ◽

Multimedia Learning ◽

Learning Systems ◽

Learning Materials ◽

New Approach ◽

Direct Assessment ◽

Load Theory ◽

Audiovisual Presentation

Abstract. In two pilot experiments, a new approach for the direct assessment of cognitive load during multimedia learning was tested that uses dual-task methodology. Using this approach, we obtained the same pattern of cognitive load as predicted by cognitive load theory when applied to multimedia learning: The audiovisual presentation of text-based and picture-based learning materials induced less cognitive load than the visual-only presentation of the same material. The findings confirm the utility of dual-task methodology as a promising approach for the assessment of cognitive load induced by complex multimedia learning systems.

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Differential Performance of Professional Dancers to the Music Apperception Test and the Thematic Apperception Test

Rorschachiana Journal of the International Society for the Rorschach ◽

10.1027/1192-5604/a000098 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 20-49

Author(s):

Leland van den Daele ◽

Ashley Yates ◽

Sharon Rae Jenkins

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Thematic Apperception Test ◽

Performance Tests ◽

Basic Emotions ◽

Gender And Age ◽

Thematic Apperception ◽

Professional Dancers ◽

Visually Based ◽

Modality Preference

Abstract. This project compared the relative performance of professional dancers and nondancers on the Music Apperception Test (MAT; van den Daele, 2014 ), then compared dancers’ performance on the MAT with that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943 ). The MAT asks respondents to “tell a story to the music” in compositions written to represent basic emotions. Dancers had significantly shorter response latency and were more fluent in storytelling than a comparison group matched for gender and age. Criterion-based evaluation of dancers’ narratives found narrative emotion consistent with music written to portray the emotion, with the majority integrating movement, sensation, and imagery. Approximately half the dancers were significantly more fluent on the MAT than the TAT, while the other half were significantly more fluent on the TAT than the MAT. Dancers who were more fluent on the MAT had a higher proportion of narratives that integrated movement and imagery compared with those more fluent on the TAT. The results were interpreted as consistent with differences observed in neurological studies of auditory and visual processing, educational studies of modality preference, and the cognitive style literature. The MAT provides an assessment tool to complement visually based performance tests in personality appraisal.

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Cognitive Load Mediates the Effect of Emotion on Analytical Thinking

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000333 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (6) ◽

pp. 343-350 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Bastien Trémolière ◽

Marie-Ève Gagnon ◽

Isabelle Blanchette

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Load ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Deleterious Effect ◽

Detrimental Effect ◽

Emotional Problems ◽

Syllogistic Reasoning ◽

Cognitive Resources ◽

Potential Explanation ◽

Cognitive Mechanism ◽

Analytical Thinking

Abstract. Although the detrimental effect of emotion on reasoning has been evidenced many times, the cognitive mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. In the present paper, we explore the cognitive load hypothesis as a potential explanation. In an experiment, participants solved syllogistic reasoning problems with either neutral or emotional contents. Participants were also presented with a secondary task, for which the difficult version requires the mobilization of cognitive resources to be correctly solved. Participants performed overall worse and took longer on emotional problems than on neutral problems. Performance on the secondary task, in the difficult version, was poorer when participants were reasoning about emotional, compared to neutral contents, consistent with the idea that processing emotion requires more cognitive resources. Taken together, the findings afford evidence that the deleterious effect of emotion on reasoning is mediated by cognitive load.

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