Blythe Dodds
Mary Ellen Kubit
Writing 1310
8 September 2016 Cognitive Overload Have you ever gone to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator only to realize you couldn’t remember what you were looking for? How about staying up all night cramming and then forgetting everything as soon as the test is over? If so, you have just experienced cognitive overload, a result of our short-term memory exceeding the amount of information it can hold. In his article about cognitive load called “What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody’s Cognitive Toolkit?” Nicholas Carr states that memory lapses reveal the limitations of our working memory, the “short-term” storehouse for the …show more content…
When Carr explains what happens when our working memory is overwhelmed by too much information, he states, “The information vanishes before we’ve had an opportunity to transfer it into our long-term memory and weave into knowledge. We remember less, and our ability to think critically and conceptually weakens.” Carr impresses upon us the seriousness of working-memory overload. If we want to increase productivity, to improve critical thinking skills, or to enjoy a particular experience, we must make an extra effort to avoid distracting ourselves, even if that means turning off our phones and other electronic devices. I agree with Carr that cognitive overload can be prevented through awareness of our
limitations and avoiding multi-tasking. The more conscious we are of the working memory’s
small capacity, the more we will be able to control our cognitive load and increase our memory.
However, Carr fails to give many specific examples of how we can apply this awareness to our
lives.
One area that would be particularly helped by applying cognitive load awareness is academic
learning. Teachers that are trying to go through a lot of material, all too often overwhelm their
students with too much at once. Carl Wieman, a well-known physicist and professor, agrees
when he writes, “The effective teacher recognizes that giving the students material to master is
the mental equivalent of giving …show more content…
Studying in short time segments and going over the same information over several days
will help us to not only remember information for tests, but also help us to remember and truly
understand it for years to come (Courtney Runn, The Science Behind Cramming).
A concept of cognitive load that Nicholas Carr does not mention in his article is that of each
individual having different processing capacities. While one person cannot stand to have any
noise around them while they are trying to focus on a task, another person can concentrate on a
project without being bothered by distractions. In fact, many people are convinced that listening
to music helps them to focus. Music sometimes helps me to focus when I am doing something
that doesn’t take a lot of thinking skills, but at other times it can be more of a hindrance than a
help. Evidence shows that the reason some people can process more information than others
without becoming overwhelmed may be because of their experience. Knowledge and skill in a
particular subject “...reduces the cognitive load associated with that task” (Wikipedia). As
Mary Ellen Kubit
Writing 1310
8 September 2016 Cognitive Overload Have you ever gone to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator only to realize you couldn’t remember what you were looking for? How about staying up all night cramming and then forgetting everything as soon as the test is over? If so, you have just experienced cognitive overload, a result of our short-term memory exceeding the amount of information it can hold. In his article about cognitive load called “What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody’s Cognitive Toolkit?” Nicholas Carr states that memory lapses reveal the limitations of our working memory, the “short-term” storehouse for the …show more content…
When Carr explains what happens when our working memory is overwhelmed by too much information, he states, “The information vanishes before we’ve had an opportunity to transfer it into our long-term memory and weave into knowledge. We remember less, and our ability to think critically and conceptually weakens.” Carr impresses upon us the seriousness of working-memory overload. If we want to increase productivity, to improve critical thinking skills, or to enjoy a particular experience, we must make an extra effort to avoid distracting ourselves, even if that means turning off our phones and other electronic devices. I agree with Carr that cognitive overload can be prevented through awareness of our
limitations and avoiding multi-tasking. The more conscious we are of the working memory’s
small capacity, the more we will be able to control our cognitive load and increase our memory.
However, Carr fails to give many specific examples of how we can apply this awareness to our
lives.
One area that would be particularly helped by applying cognitive load awareness is academic
learning. Teachers that are trying to go through a lot of material, all too often overwhelm their
students with too much at once. Carl Wieman, a well-known physicist and professor, agrees
when he writes, “The effective teacher recognizes that giving the students material to master is
the mental equivalent of giving …show more content…
Studying in short time segments and going over the same information over several days
will help us to not only remember information for tests, but also help us to remember and truly
understand it for years to come (Courtney Runn, The Science Behind Cramming).
A concept of cognitive load that Nicholas Carr does not mention in his article is that of each
individual having different processing capacities. While one person cannot stand to have any
noise around them while they are trying to focus on a task, another person can concentrate on a
project without being bothered by distractions. In fact, many people are convinced that listening
to music helps them to focus. Music sometimes helps me to focus when I am doing something
that doesn’t take a lot of thinking skills, but at other times it can be more of a hindrance than a
help. Evidence shows that the reason some people can process more information than others
without becoming overwhelmed may be because of their experience. Knowledge and skill in a
particular subject “...reduces the cognitive load associated with that task” (Wikipedia). As