Cognition and Cognitive Load Theory

Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thoughts, experiences and the senses.

Cognition is the activities of thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering. — Webster Dictionary

Simply put, it is how we process information after reading a Charles Darwin book on Human Evolution, understand why chameleons change to adapt to the colour of their surroundings as a defence mechanism or starting an online class on Udemy.

Information overload (also known as infobesity, infoxication, information anxiety, and information explosion) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information about that issue.

When too much information is presented at once, it becomes overwhelming to process thereby causing loss of information at various points of assimilation.

For instance, the biology professor announces an unexpected pop quiz that is due in a week. You have to make a lot of research on certain topics with relations to the assessment. You go online and begin research but then there’s a ton of information at your perusal leaving you overwhelmed and lost.

Cognitive load theory is an instructional design theory that reflects the way we process this information. We can best adapt to down we perceive information, process and store them as memory by using various training methods.

Brain cognitive functions are the mental processes that allow us to receive, select, store, transform, develop, and recover information that we’ve received from external stimuli.

Problems could be broken down into parts, reducing their complexity. This way, large projects are more simplified and easier to tackle.

An infographic is a collection of imagery, charts, and minimal text that gives an easy-to-understand overview of a topic.

Visual and auditory tools can also be integrated into information processing and assimilation. The average human’s working memory capacity is very limited. By simply adding graphic designs and illustration, the human brain paints scenery which aids in the retention of information for a longer time.

In conclusion, humans receive, store and process information and different and unique ways, therefore it is right to be patient on them considering their cognitive load.