Germane cognitive load fully mediates the effect of information-search tool on justification quality (exploratory analysis)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In an exploratory mediation analysis, the difference in justification quality between the LLM and web search conditions was fully mediated by germane cognitive load: a significant indirect effect (β = 0.15; p = 0.020) with no significant direct effect (β = 0.19; p = 0.095). → Matthias Stadler 2024

Evidence¶

Matthias Stadler 2024¶

Matthias Stadler, Maria Bannert, Michael Sailer. (2024). Cognitive ease at a cost: LLMs reduce mental effort but compromise depth in student scientific inquiry. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108386

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Exploratory mediation model (jAMM) with direct effects of group, GCL and prior knowledge on justification quality and an indirect effect of GCL, reporting "asignificantindirecteffect(β=0.15;p=0.020)" and a non-significant direct effect. The article explicitly frames this extension of H2 as exploratory; the β coefficients are printed values with no standardised effect size reported.

"Wefoundasignificantindirecteffect(β=0.15;p=0.020)andnosignifi- cantdirecteffect(β=0.19;p=0.095)indicatingafullmediationofthe effect of the different research conditions on the quality of the argu- mentsandreasoningpresentedthroughGCL."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Working Memory — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

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