雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'cognitive load' refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory. In educational psychology, it is often divided into three types: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic load is associated with the inherent difficulty of the material itself, which cannot be altered by instructional design. Extraneous load, however, is generated by the way information is presented to learners, and can be minimized through effective teaching methods. Germane load is the mental resources devoted to processing and understanding the material, which contributes to learning. Researchers argue that instructional designers should aim to reduce extraneous load while optimizing germane load, as an overloaded working memory can impede knowledge acquisition. This framework has significant implications for multimedia learning environments, where poorly designed visuals or redundant texts may unnecessarily increase extraneous load.