Embodied action can harm learning when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoreticalr2·q1
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-22 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q1 i? Action can hurt learning when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding. → Fred Paas 2026
Evidence¶
Fred Paas 2026¶
Fred Paas, Nadine Marcus, Kevin Sigayret, Peng Wang, Kim Ouwehand, Liye Zou. (2026). Embodied guidance fading: When embodiment supports STEM learning by optimizing cognitive load. Educational Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2026.2717080
q1 · i? · theoretical · r2
Theoretical argument in the commentary: the authors state that action can hurt when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding. No empirical data are reported for this boundary condition.
"Action can also hurt when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Coherence Principle Irrelevant Material Hurts Learning — a broader claim this one bears on
- Interesting but irrelevant details can impair comprehension and transfer, with effects that vary with the material and the learner — a broader claim this one bears on
- Redundant on-screen text impairs learning when it competes with a visualization, though written text duplicating narration alone can help — related
- On-screen text that duplicates the narration of a diagram can hurt learning, but spoken–written redundancy is not harmful on average and helps over spoken-only presentation in some conditions — related
- Redundant and decorative elements, including emotional design embellishments, can enhance learning despite constituting potential extraneous load — reports the opposite
- Observing gestures embedded in instruction aids learning, especially when gestures convey a different strategy than speech — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
action-hurts-when-adding-motor-demands |
title |
Embodied action can harm learning when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding |
description |
Embodied action can harm learning when it adds motor demands, redundant cues, or irrelevant activity without improving understanding |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
source_checked |
2026-10-22 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-22 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — fred-paas-2026 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.