There have been several important developments in the field of cognitive psychology and human cognitive processes in isolation , however very little is known about the way in which human cognition has developed in the way the allows working memory such limited space and time to process information? Why has working memory not grown over the years to account for this “weakness”?

A very interesting reading by John Sweller, talks about how the working memory is both limited and infinite at several instances, given the nature of the information structure it is dealing with. The author talks about the process of “dealing with” with new information depending on the structure in which the information is presented i.e. is it high interactivity element material (HIME) or low interactivity element material (LIME); has the subject already developed a learning in the area or is it new knowledge? If it’s new knowledge then learning would have to be “aided” in some way which calls for “instructional design”. However, if learning already exists in some regard within the Long-term memory and a central executive exists, then the working memory would simply use these schema to solve problems very easily, with low cognitive load, thus affording in-depth understanding to the subject. On the contrary (and of more interest to us) is the area where no prior learning exists thus calling for a) the development of schema and b) automation.

The development of schema: this would allow for several disjunct elements to be processed as one, single element in the working memory which would greatly diminish the workload on the working memory thus making “understanding” easier to obtain as opposed to several high interactivity elements needing to be processed simultaneously all at once! However, for such schemas to develop, it would be necessary to first “learn” (develop schemas and central executive function in the long-term memory) and then proceed to “understanding”.

Automation: this is really the skill whereby high interactivity material that has been incorporated into an automated schema after extensive learning can be manipulated easily in working memory for problem-solving and other high-order tasks. A good example of this reading skills in adults having an education of more than sixteen years compared to a novice reader.

Lastly, an important takeaway from the reading was the importance of instructional design(ID) while dealing with different types of information structures as well as varied learners. Hence, the kinds of IDs that would work well with novice learners would really be very counter-productive in the case of an expert or even an intermediate learner. A good example is that of “problem completion effect” that would hardly help a beginner but may help an intermediate learner.

Similarly, “problem-solving techniques” may not work as well with beginners, having no prior schema for guidance but may work really well for someone who does have prior knowledge and a central executive function that has been developed over the years. Hence, any tool that is to be designed for learning, there must be a gradual “fading out” of instruction/assistance that aids in the independent learning of the user but must do so after the assurance and confirmation that the necessary schema and some level of automation has been developed.