[IxDA Discuss] Cognitive load question

[Lisa deBettencourt]

Hi Robert,

Cognitive load is more directly related to having to use your brain to
transfer information from one place to the next. A static web page/interface
really doesn't affect cognitive load very much. Instead, cognitive load can
be affected by the places during interaction where you have to copy, say, a
product number from one page and insert it into a text box on another.
Cognitive load theory comes into play when you use your memory for that
transfer instead of the copy/paste function in the browser.

You can also find more info on Miller's magic number 7 (+/- 2) for recall in
short term memory and how he proposed chunking info. The application of this
theory and cognitive load into web design is somewhat misplaced. see also:
http://www.ddj.com/184412300 and this quote: "He wasn't studying how many
items humans can perceive, which he admits can be thousands. Web site
navigation, however, is generally not concerned with short-term memory.
Visitors are rarely required to memorize items in a menu. In fact, many site
navigations are presented on all pages at all times for continuous
reference. Immediate memory doesn't play a significant role."

What you're talking about "processing a web page" is more visual load than
cognitive and has little to do with memory but more to do with preattentive
processing and our ability to visually decipher relationships between items
(groups) or identifying important/not important information.

Cheers,
Lisa


On 6/7/06, Robert Hoekman, Jr. <rhoekmanjr at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> material.]
>
> I want to make sure I'm understanding cognitive load correctly, and I'm
> hoping someone here can verify whether or not I'm on the right track.
>
> Here's my understanding:
>
> The elements that make up an interface all contribute to the cognitive
> load
> users must wade through when using an application for the first time, and
> any time something in the application changes (eg: the addition of a new
> feature that takes a prominent position in the interface).
>
> Cognitive load theory says that the learning process is most effective
> when
> the load on short-term memory is reduced to facilitate the transfer of
> information to long-term memory. In short, it's much easier to process and
> retain only one or two new pieces of information at a time than it is to
> process ten. When we view a Web page for the first time, we have to
> process
> every piece of information on it to decide what's relevant to what we are
> trying to accomplish. When a page is cluttered up with all sorts of
> unnecessary items, short-term memory is hit hard. There's a lot to see and
>
> learn and process. When we finally manage to pick out the important
> pieces,
> we have very little remaining capacity to transfer that information into
> long-term memory.
>
> How far off am I with this explanation? Can someone please correct
> anything
> I've misstated here?
>
> Thanks very much ...
>
> -r-