The Limitations of Working Memory
CPD: Dual Coding (by Oliver Caviglioli), topic 1.1.1
Working Memory Limitations & Dual Coding
John Sweller has identified nearly twenty cognitive load effects that add very practical advice for teachers. Here are six of them most directly related to dual coding theory.
Worked example effect
- Worked examples show novices the step-by-step path to solving problems.
- They help novices store the problem-solving schema into their long-term memory.
- Our courses at Seneca usually contain several worked examples, to help students' learning, especially in STEM subjects.
Transient information effect
- Teachers’ spoken words disappear, i.e. they are transient.
- This can cause interference in novices’ learning, as they struggle to remember earlier parts of the teacher’s explanation.
Guidance fading effect
- The gradual withdraw of worked examples should be dynamically tailored to novices’ changing levels of expertise in particular areas of study.
- In other words, teachers should gradually take away scaffolding.
Split-attention effect
- When two sources of information are split in time or space but need to be understood together, students suffer overload as they switch back and forth.
Redundancy effect
- When a novice moves along the continuum towards more expertise, they no longer need earlier, simpler sources of information aimed at novice status.
- In fact, the more students progress, the more such simplified information will hinder learning.
Modality effect
- We take in information through two separate channels: the auditory and the visual channels.
- It’s best to avoid one channel being overloaded by dealing with two sources of information concurrently.
Test yourself on The Limitations of Working Memory
Who developed the model shown in the image?
How many slots did George Miller (1956) propose we have in our Working Memory?
What cognitive load effect describes the fact that teachers’ spoken words disappear, causing interference in novices’ learning?