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, cognitive load theory suggests that learning is most effective when instructional materials are designed to reduce extraneous cognitive load, thereby freeing resources for the essential processing of new information. However, recent studies have challenged the assumption that simplifying visual aids always benefits learners. For instance, research by Mayer and Moreno (2010) demonstrated that adding redundant on-screen text to narrated animations can increase extraneous load, but removing it entirely may leave learners without sufficient scaffolding for complex topics. This suggests that the optimal level of instructional support depends on the learner's prior knowledge and the complexity of the subject matter, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach to reducing cognitive load is insufficient.