The claim that high-variability practice imposes germane load rests on post-hoc explanation and does not always replicate¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
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q2 i? The interpretation that higher reported load under high-variability practice schedules is germane is post-hoc, and a troubleshooting study found better transfer under high variability without higher measured cognitive load. → de Jong 2010
Evidence¶
de Jong 2010¶
de Jong, T. (2010). Cognitive load theory, educational research, and instructional design: some food for thought. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-009-9110-0
q2 · i? · review · r2
The review reports the de Croock et al. troubleshooting study in a distillery system: the high-variability group showed better transfer performance than the low variability group but no higher subjective cognitive load, contradicting the Sweller et al. variability explanation. No effect size printed.
"participants in a condition in which practice problems were offered under a high variability schedule showed better performance on transfer problems than a low variability group, but, as measured with a subjective rating scale, did not show higher cognitive load during learning (de Croock et al. 1998)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Designing learning activities corresponding to germane load has always required methods and techniques external to cognitive load theory — related
- High- and low-prior-knowledge learners differ significantly on an algebra posttest and on intrinsic and germane cognitive load, but not on extraneous load — related
- Instructional techniques for studying worked examples can increase germane cognitive load (per van Merriënboer, Schuurman, De Croock, & Paas) — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
high-variability-germane-load-post-hoc |
title |
The claim that high-variability practice imposes germane load rests on post-hoc explanation and does not always replicate |
description |
The claim that high-variability practice imposes germane load rests on post-hoc explanation and does not always replicate |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
mixed |
newest_evidence |
2010 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — de-jong-2010 |
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