When first introduced to the cognitive overload and the theory propounded by it I thought “here’s another fad theory.” However having studied it a little it is more common sense than speculative. One suggestion is that if you wish to transfer your knowledge of something to another person, avoid distractions.
These distractions may well include :
too many words in your delivery
heading off at a tangent verbally eg a little joke or an interesting aside
the use of flashy displays and clever illustrations
Just
deliver the knowledge
set a task requiring an understanding of the knowledge imparted
give examples and re-task where necessary
and of course re-test the next day or as soon as practical.
I came across an excellent article on Cognitive Science, just today. I suggest you link to it, even to read just a page or two.
Why?
Because that very article is made more difficult to follow and understand, by the practices Cognitive Science would suggest you omit to reduce overload.
It was not the author’s fault in any way, it was simply the medium’s way of trying to profit from printing the article.
Read it here
I am referring to the advertisement that pop-up, trying to block up as much of the screen as possible.
Do you agree, or am I suffering overload?