Learning with erroneous examples often imposed higher cognitive load than correct examples or problem-solving¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · reviewr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · 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.
q2 i? ErrEx students reported significantly higher cognitive load than CorrEx students in clinical-scenario studies. → Sonja Dieterich 2025
q2 i? Mental effort was higher for ErrEx and Con-ErrEx than for problem-solving in practice-problem studies. → Sonja Dieterich 2025 (2)
Evidence¶
Sonja Dieterich 2025¶
Sonja Dieterich, Stefan Rumann, Marc Rodemer. (2025). Conditions for Effective Learning from Erroneous Examples: A Systematic Review. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10071-x
q2 · i? · review · r3
Table 1 entry for Kopp et al. (2009a, b), an ErrEx vs CorrEx comparison in clinical scenarios with elaborated feedback, reports "ErrEx students had a significantly higher CL than students in the CorrEx group". Cognitive load was coded as high in this study.
"ErrEx students had a significantly higher CL than students in the CorrEx group"
Sonja Dieterich 2025 (2)¶
Sonja Dieterich, Stefan Rumann, Marc Rodemer. (2025). Conditions for Effective Learning from Erroneous Examples: A Systematic Review. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10071-x
q2 · i? · review · r3
Table 1 entry for van Peppen et al. (2021), an ErrEx vs PS comparison using practice problems, reports "Higher ME for ErrEx than PS". The same study reported higher mental effort for Con-ErrEx than PS, and no differences in mental effort in the ErrEx vs Con-ErrEx comparison.
"Higher ME for ErrEx than PS"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Erroneous examples show no general learning benefit over correct examples in most comparisons, but outperform them for negative knowledge in some studies — related
- Solving practice problems invested less mental effort than contrasting or erroneous examples, contrary to the worked-example-effect hypothesis — related
- Erroneous examples were beneficial only in combination with elaborated feedback, not with corrective feedback alone — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
errex-higher-cognitive-load |
title |
Learning with erroneous examples often imposed higher cognitive load than correct examples or problem-solving |
description |
Learning with erroneous examples often imposed higher cognitive load than correct examples or problem-solving |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
source_checked |
2026-10-19 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-19 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — sonja-dieterich-2025, sonja-dieterich-2025-2 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.