The analysis of human walking gait is a complex skill for physical therapy students to learn. As a result, students are at risk for a cognitive overload when confronted with these materials. Cognitive load consists of both intrinsic and extraneous loads as well as the germane processes that are required by the learners to process the information in working memory. As working memory is limited in its capacity to process new information, it is necessary to manage the cognitive load experienced by the learners. Intrinsic cognitive load is related to the complexity of the materials that must be learned and cannot be altered by instructional design without sacrificing initial understanding. An isolated elements instructional format purports to reduce the intrinsic CL experienced by learners by isolating the content into the individual elements prior to introducing any complex relationships that may exist between the elements. The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive load and learning outcome effects of an isolated elements instructional format versus an interacting elements format when teaching observational gait analysis to physical therapy students. A total of 72 students enrolled in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program participated in this study. Mixed factorial designs assessed both between-group and within-group outcomes. The independent variables were the group assignments (isolated or interacting) and time. The dependent variables were cognitive load and learning outcomes. Cognitive load was measured with 7-point Likert-type scales for both mental effort and task difficulty at five separate time points. Learning outcomes were assessed through performance scores and confidence ratings on a posttest and a 1-week follow-up test. Animated videos were used as the medium for instructional delivery. In the isolated elements group, the learners received the content in several separate videos that isolated each of the sub-phases of gait prior to viewing a summary video that included all of the interacting gait cycle components. Learners in the interacting elements group received the content in one video that included the full gait cycle followed by the same summary video. Students in the isolated elements groups reported lower mental effort ratings immediately after viewing the isolated elements videos than did the interacting group after viewing the single video tutorial. However, there was no differences in either mental effort or task difficulty ratings at the other time points during the lesson or during the assessments. Performance scores and confidence ratings did not differ between the two groups. Within-group analyses found that there were significant changes over time in both groups for mental effort, performance scores, and confidence ratings. A statistically significant change was noted over time for task difficulty in the interacting elements group. The reduction in mental effort ratings immediately following the tutorial content for the isolated elements group lends support the theory that isolating the individual elements prior to teaching the complex interactions can reduce cognitive load for learners. However, this reduction in cognitive load did not translate into improved test scores or confidence compared to the interacting elements group. Future research is needed to identify instructional methods that can further reduce the cognitive load and increase the learning outcomes of students learning observational gait analysis. In addition, alternative objective methods of assessing cognitive load should be explored.

The purpose of this study was to help explore the assumptions in job analysis literature involving whether holistic or decomposed job analysis items lead to a higher level of cognitive load for raters. The main study, involving 303 undergraduate university students, was a 2 (Type of measure: holistic or decomposed) X 2 (Level of extraneous cognitive load: additional load or no additional load) within-subjects design. The 160 decomposed items analyzed in this study were pilot tested to ensure that they would correlate with the 17 holistic items. Under the additional cognitive load condition, participants memorized an 8-digit number, and then were asked to recall and recognize this number upon the completion of the rating task (this manipulation was performed for both the holistic and decomposed measures). Stability of ratings across conditions and interrater agreement were used as dependent measures. Results indicated that the holistic items (r=.74) had higher levels of stability across cognitive load conditions than did the decomposed items (r=.66). The levels of interrater agreement were not significantly different between three of the four conditions. In partial support of Butler and Harvey (1988), the level of interrater agreement for the Holistic additional cognitive load condition (r*wg=.33) was significantly lower than the interrater agreement for the remaining three conditions. The pattern of results supported prior research (Cornelius & Lyness, 1980; Lyness & Cornelius, 1982) indicating that, depending on the criteria being used, holistic items do not necessarily cause a higher level of cognitive load for raters than do decomposed items. / Master of Science

Pretesting prior to a study session has been shown to benefit memory for pretested information compared to traditional study. While previous research has not found a detriment to non-pretested but related material, it is possible that taxing attention by increasing the playback speed of presented material could reveal such impairments. The current study (N = 239) compared multiple-choice learning from educational videos at 1x, 1.5x, and 2x speeds. Three videos (one at each speed) were presented after a pretest, for which half of the tested material was pretested, and half was not (non-pretested related). Another three videos were presented without a pretest (non-pretested). Benefits from pretesting and impairments associated with increased playback speed were observed, but no evidence of impairments to non-pretested related information were observed even at an increased playback speed. These results are inconsistent with an attentional account of the pretesting effect.

Uncertainty is inherent in many real-world settings; for example, in a combat situation, darkness may prevent a soldier from classifying approaching troops as friendly or hostile. In an environment plagued with uncertainty, decision-support systems, such as sensor-based networks, may make faulty assumptions about field conditions, especially when information is incomplete, or sensor operations are disrupted. Displaying the factors that contribute to uncertainty informs the decision-making process for a human operator, but at the expense of limited cognitive resources, such as attention, memory, and workload. This research applied principles of perceptual cognition to human-computer interface design to introduce uncertainty visualizations in an adaptive approach that improved the operator's decision-making process, without unduly burdening the operator's cognitive load. An adaptive approach to uncertainty visualization considers the cognitive burden of all visualizations, and reduces the visualizations according to relevancy as the user's cognitive load increases. Experiments were performed using 24 volunteer participants using a simulated environment that featured both intrinsic load, and characteristics of uncertainty. The experiments conclusively demonstrated that adaptive uncertainty visualization reduced the cognitive burden on the operator's attention, memory, and workload, resulting in increased accuracy rates, faster response times, and a higher degree of user satisfaction. This research adds to the body of knowledge regarding the use of uncertainty visualization in the context of cognitive load. Existing research has not identified techniques to support uncertainty visualization, without further burdening cognitive load. This research identified principles, such as goal-oriented visualization, and salience, which promote the use of uncertainty visualization for improved decision-making without increasing cognitive load. This research has extensive significance in fields where both uncertainty and cognitive load factors can reduce the effectiveness of decision-makers, such as sensor-based systems used in the military, or in first-responder situations.

While many educators suggest active, rather than passive learning, this is not always the best solution, especially when learners are novices. Sweller and Cooper found learners who passively studied worked examples were significantly more efficient than those who actively solved problems (Cooper & Sweller, 1987; Sweller & Cooper, 1985) later described as the "worked-example effect" (Sweller & Chandler, 1991). The current study tested the claims of Lewis (2005) who suggested animated demonstrations act as worked examples. It compared the performance of groups of preservice teachers who: studied animated demonstrations (demo); studied animated demonstrations and practiced procedures (demo+practice & demo2+practice), or practiced procedures (practice). Two MANOVAs were used to compare group performance. During week one, it was hypothesized that the demonstration learners would out-perform those in the practice condition given performance time and accuracy. It was found that there was a significant difference between groups, Wilks’ Λ=0.68, F (2, 68) = 6.83, p <0.0001, η 2 =0.32. Post hoc comparisons with Scheffé’s test (p<0.025) revealed that the demonstration groups (demo+practice and demo2+practice groups) assembled the problem, in significantly less time than the practice group, which is positive evidence for the worked-example effect (Sweller & Chandler, 1991) given animated demonstrations. During week two, a similar MANOVA revealed no differences between groups. While this study considered learner performance from a human computer interaction (HCI) perspective, it also considered learners from a cognitive load perspective, by measuring relative condition efficiency (Paas & van Merriënboer, 1993). In addition, it developed a new measure called performance efficiency. During week one, the demonstration conditions were found to be significantly different F (2, 68) = 3.69, p =0.03, given relative condition efficiency. This is positive evidence of the variability effect. However in post hoc comparisons these instructional conditions were not found to differ. Performance efficiency was found to be significantly different, during week one, F (2, 68) = 12.95, p<0.0001, and post hoc comparisons with Scheffé’s test (p<0.05) revealed the demonstration learners were significantly more efficient, than the practice learners. During week two, groups were not significantly different, so once learners had practiced procedures, they performed equally well.

Excessive sympathetic cardiovascular reactivity to stressful tasks is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many populations with a greater risk for CVD instead demonstrate blunted cardiovascular reactivity to stressful tasks. The motivational intensity theory identifies how motivation and effort influence sympathetic reactivity. Blunted reactivity may be a potential index of motivational dysregulation, which leads to poor behavioral decisions such as excess smoking or alcohol use, in turn increasing the risk for CVD. The current study sought to demonstrate how inhibited effort due to poor ability feedback with a low-contingency reward could directly increase the risk for CVD through perseverative cognition and impaired recovery. Participants (N = 89) were given either poor or good feedback on a working memory task that was purported to be related to another related working memory task. Participants were then informed that they could secure a low- or high-contingency reward opportunity by meeting a performance standard. EKG, impedance cardiography, blood pressure, and pupillometry were recorded throughout. Pre-ejection period reactivity and self-reported effort were greatest in participants given good feedback with a high-contingency reward and poor feedback with a low-contingency reward. Greater effort and sympathetic reactivity support previous findings linking these two measures. The results also suggest evaluating both internal and external rewards is important when examining motivation.

Cognitive load theory uses the immense size of human long-term memory and the significantly limited capacity of working memory to design instructional methods. Five basic principles: information store principle, borrowing and reorganizing principle, randomness as genesis principle, narrow limits of change principle, and environmental linking and organizing principle explain the cognitive basics of this theory. The theory differentiates between three major types of cognitive load: extraneous load that is caused by instructional strategies, intrinsic cognitive load that results from a high element interactivity material and germane load that is concerned with activities leading to learning. Instructional methods designed in accordance with cognitive load theory rely heavily on the borrowing and reorganizing principle, rather than on the randomness as genesis principle to reduce the imposed cognitive load. As learning fractions incorporates high element interactivity, a high intrinsic cognitive load is imposed. Therefore, learning fractions was studied in the experiments of this thesis. Knowledge held in long-term memory can be used to reduce working memory load via the environmental linking and organizing principle. It can be suggested that if fractions are presented using familiar objects, many of the interacting elements that constitute a fraction might be embedded in stored knowledge and so can be treated as a single element by working memory. Thus, familiar context can be used to reduce cognitive load and so facilitate learning. In a series of randomized, controlled experiments, evidence was found to argue for a contextual effect. The first three experiments of this thesis were designed to test the main hypothesis that presenting students with worked examples concerning fractions would enhance learning if a real-life context was used rather than a geometric context. This hypothesis was tested using both a visual and a word-based format and was supported by the results. The last two experiments were intended to test the context effect using either worked examples or problem solving. The results supported the validity of the previous hypothesis using both instructional methods. Overall, the thesis sheds some light on the advantages of using familiar objects when mastering complex concepts in mathematics.

This study builds on previous research analyzing the effects of cognitive busyness on recall of stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information by examining the real-world context of Facebook profiles. College students (N = 160) were randomly assigned to either a cognitively busy or unbusy condition. They then looked at either the profile of an African-American male or female target. After, they were given a recall test to assess the number of stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent descriptors correctly recalled. Results were expected to show that participants recalled more stereotype-consistent information when cognitively busy, even more so for male targets. Conversely, participants were expected to recall more stereotype-inconsistent information when cognitively unbusy, even more so for male targets. Neither cognitive busyness nor the interaction between cognitive busyness and target gender affected the type of information participants recalled. Both results were inconsistent with previous research. Future research should find ways to strengthen the construct validity of measures as they operate in real-world contexts such as Facebook.

This study builds on previous research analyzing the effects of cognitive busyness on recall of stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information by examining the real-world context of Facebook profiles. College students (N = 160) were randomly assigned to either a cognitively busy or unbusy condition. They then looked at either the profile of an African-American male or female target. After, they were given a recall test to assess the number of stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent descriptors correctly recalled. Results were expected to show that participants recalled more stereotype-consistent information when cognitively busy, even more so for male targets. Conversely, participants were expected to recall more stereotype-inconsistent information when cognitively unbusy, even more so for male targets. Neither cognitive busyness nor the interaction between cognitive busyness and target gender affected the type of information participants recalled. Both results were inconsistent with previous research. Future research should find ways to strengthen the construct validity of measures as they operate in real-world contexts such as Facebook.

This study examined mathematics anxiety among elementary teacher candidates, and to what extent it interacted with the modality principle under various degrees of learner-control. The experiment involved a sample of 186 elementary teacher candidates learning from eight versions of a computer program on division with fractions. The eight versions varied in modality of presentation (diagrams with narration, or diagrams with written text), control of pacing (pacing was controlled by either the learner or the system), and control of sequence (sequence was controlled by either the learner or the system). A pre-test, post-test, demographic questionnaire, subjective measure of mental effort, and the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Survey were also administered. This study revealed that mathematics anxiety was significantly positively correlated with mental effort, and significantly negatively correlated with engagement, pre-test and post-test scores. Additionally, a modality x pacing interaction was observed for both high prior knowledge and low mathematics-anxious students. Under system-pacing, the modality effect was observed, and these students achieved higher far transfer scores when learning from the diagrams and narration modality condition. However, under learner-pacing, the modality effect reversed, and high prior knowledge and low mathematics-anxious students performed better on far transfer scores when learning from the diagrams and written text modality condition. Low prior knowledge, and highly mathematics-anxious students performed poorly in all treatment conditions. Additional interactions involving sequence-control, and a four-way interaction involving prior knowledge, modality, sequence-control, and pacing were also uncovered. The results from this study demonstrate that prior knowledge and mathematics anxiety have a complex relationship with the effectiveness of the format of instruction, and the design of instructional materials needs to take into account these individual differences. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-25 19:38:33.9