Repeated measures of invested mental effort, perceived task difficulty, interest, and self-assessed understanding differ significantly across measurement points within complex learning tasks and are not adequately represented by their mean¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2029: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Across 21 measurement points within three worked examples, all four target variables fluctuated significantly, and the fluctuations cannot be represented by mean values or individual measurements. → Katrin Schuessler 2026

Evidence¶

Katrin Schuessler 2026¶

Katrin Schuessler, Jenna Koenen, Elke Sumfleth, Marvin Rost. (2026). Variations in Repeated Measures of Cognitive Load and Interest During Complex Learning Tasks. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10105-4

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Repeated-measures study of N = 360 lower-secondary students in chemistry lessons, with seven questionnaires embedded in each of three worked examples on acids. Descriptive and Bayesian multilevel analyses showed values "substantially vary between the 21 measurement points"; no standardized effect size is printed for the fluctuation itself.

"In summary, the descriptive mean values of all participants substantially vary between the 21 measurement points."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Interest — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• The relationship between invested mental effort and self-assessed understanding is weak and inconsistent, with most correlations non-significant and mixed directions — related
• Cognitive load ratings rise and interest and self-assessed understanding fall in sections introducing new content knowledge compared with introductory sections of worked examples — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Prior knowledge and intervention condition predict repeated cognitive load and interest measures: prior knowledge lowers effort and difficulty and raises interest and understanding, and prompting groups perceive tasks as more difficult — related
• Pairwise relationships between invested mental effort, perceived task difficulty, interest, and self-assessed understanding fluctuate across measurement points, with most correlations stronger when more content knowledge is presented — related
• The predictive value of cognitive load ratings for problem performance was mixed: mental effort predicted performance in Experiment 1, perceived difficulty in Experiment 2, but never both at once — related
• Invested mental effort and perceived task difficulty are significantly positively correlated at all measurement points except MP2.5, with correlations increasing as material complexity rises — related
• Reliability estimates of cognitive load questionnaires did not differ between educational settings, instructional domains, presentation modes, or number of scale points — related
• Invested mental effort and perceived task difficulty are strongly correlated yet relate differently to relative task difficulty, indicating the two ratings measure different aspects of overall cognitive load — related
• Perceived task difficulty correlates negatively with self-assessed understanding and with interest at essentially all measurement points, while interest and self-assessed understanding correlate positively throughout — related
• Model-based posterior-prediction correlations between the four variables show distinct dynamic patterns across the 21 time points and four intervention groups — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Invested mental effort and interest are only weakly and inconsistently positively correlated across measurement points, with some correlations non-significant — related
• Mental effort is more suitably modeled as a non-linear than linear predictor of learning outcomes in most re-analyzed studies — related
• The model's assumed negative correlation between cognitive load and learner resources was not supported; the overall correlation was positive — related
• Lower secondary students' situation-specific engagement varies most strongly between lessons within students, with smaller between-student variation — related