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 minimize extraneous cognitive load, which is the mental effort required to process information that is not directly relevant to the learning goal. For instance, a poorly designed diagram that forces students to search for labels can increase extraneous load, thereby impeding schema acquisition. Conversely, intrinsic cognitive load, which is the inherent difficulty of the material itself, cannot be reduced by instructional design, but can be managed by breaking complex tasks into smaller steps. Research indicates that overly complex presentations often overwhelm novices, while experts may benefit from more integrated formats due to their existing schemas. Thus, effective teaching must adapt to the learner's level of expertise.