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Quiz: Cognitive Architecture and Load

Test your understanding of the three-stage memory model, working memory, schemas, encoding, dual coding, multimedia learning, and Cognitive Load Theory with these review questions.

1. What are the three stages of the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model, in order?

  1. Working memory, long-term memory, procedural memory
  2. Sensory memory, working memory, long-term memory
  3. Iconic memory, echoic memory, semantic memory
  4. Short-term memory, episodic memory, procedural memory
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The correct answer is B. The Atkinson-Shiffrin model organizes memory into three stages arranged in series: sensory memory (a very brief, high-capacity buffer holding raw perceptual input), working memory (a narrow, short-duration workspace where conscious thought happens), and long-term memory (a vast, long-duration store of knowledge and skills). Information flows forward when attention selects it and backward when retrieval pulls it into working memory.

Concept Tested: Sensory Memory

2. Modern estimates of raw working-memory capacity (with rehearsal and chunking suppressed) converge on approximately how many items?

  1. Seven plus or minus two
  2. Twelve plus or minus three
  3. Four plus or minus one
  4. Two plus or minus one
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The correct answer is C. Nelson Cowan's work beginning in 2001 measured raw working-memory capacity with procedures that suppress rehearsal and chunking, converging on approximately four plus or minus one items. Miller's often-cited "seven plus or minus two" measured effective span with rehearsal and chunking allowed. The four-item figure is the floor when learners cannot chunk novel material; the seven-item figure is the ceiling when they can.

Concept Tested: Miller's Law

3. In Baddeley's working-memory model, which component is responsible for holding visual and spatial information?

  1. The phonological loop
  2. The central executive
  3. The episodic buffer
  4. The visuospatial sketchpad
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The correct answer is D. The visuospatial sketchpad is the visual and spatial subsystem of Baddeley's working-memory model that holds images, diagrams, and spatial layouts. The phonological loop handles verbal and acoustic information, while the central executive is the attentional controller that allocates processing resources across subsystems. This separation is why verbal text and visual diagrams can share a page without colliding — they draw on different capacity pools.

Concept Tested: Visuospatial Sketchpad

4. A chess master can reconstruct mid-game board positions far better than a novice, but only when positions come from real games. What does this demonstrate?

  1. Masters have larger working-memory capacity than novices
  2. Masters have better visual acuity than novices
  3. Chunking depends on pre-existing long-term knowledge, not general memory capacity
  4. Procedural memory is more reliable than semantic memory
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The correct answer is C. Chase and Simon's 1973 studies showed that chess masters' advantage disappeared on random board configurations. The master's superiority came from a library of roughly fifty thousand meaningful chess patterns, each occupying a single chunk. Chunking is not a trick applied at will — it depends on pre-existing schemas in long-term memory. New material cannot be chunked until something about it is already familiar.

Concept Tested: Chunking

5. Which type of long-term memory stores skills and procedures that are expressed through performance rather than conscious recall?

  1. Semantic memory
  2. Episodic memory
  3. Procedural memory
  4. Iconic memory
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The correct answer is C. Procedural memory stores skills, procedures, and habits expressed through performance rather than recall — riding a bicycle, touch-typing, or invoking a software command. Retrieval is implicit; trying to introspect about the steps often degrades performance. Semantic memory stores general facts and concepts, while episodic memory stores specific events bound to time and place.

Concept Tested: Procedural Memory

6. A MicroSim shows a narrated diagram while simultaneously displaying the same narration as on-screen text. Which multimedia learning principle does this violate?

  1. Coherence principle
  2. Spatial contiguity principle
  3. Redundancy principle
  4. Signaling principle
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The correct answer is C. The redundancy principle states that presenting the same verbal information simultaneously as both printed text and narration hurts learning. When a learner is watching a diagram and hearing narration, adding identical on-screen text forces the phonological loop to process both the spoken and written verbal streams, creating extraneous load. The benefit of dual coding requires complementary information across channels, not duplicate information.

Concept Tested: Multimedia Learning Theory

7. In Cognitive Load Theory, which type of load is imposed by poor instructional design and contributes nothing to learning?

  1. Intrinsic cognitive load
  2. Germane cognitive load
  3. Extraneous cognitive load
  4. Retrieval load
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The correct answer is C. Extraneous cognitive load is imposed by the presentation of material — confusing diagrams, split-attention layouts, redundant narration, or decorative animations — that does not contribute to learning. It is the designer's fault and the primary lever designers can pull to improve instruction. Intrinsic load comes from the material itself, and germane load is the productive work of schema construction.

Concept Tested: Extraneous Cognitive Load

8. A designer is creating a chapter for complete novices on a complex topic. According to the cognitive load budget equation, what is the most effective first move?

  1. Increase germane load by adding more elaboration prompts
  2. Reduce extraneous load by removing decorative graphics and fixing split-attention layouts
  3. Increase intrinsic load by presenting all interacting elements simultaneously
  4. Reduce germane load by removing self-explanation prompts
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The correct answer is B. The cognitive load budget equation (L_int + L_ext + L_ger ≤ C) means the three load types share a fixed capacity. For novices facing material with high intrinsic load, the most effective first move is to reduce extraneous load — removing decorative graphics, fixing split-attention layouts, applying the coherence principle. Every unit of extraneous load removed is a unit of capacity freed for germane processing, which is where actual schema construction happens.

Concept Tested: Cognitive Load Theory

9. Allan Paivio's Dual Coding Theory predicts that concepts represented in both verbal and visual systems are more memorable. What is the key qualifier for this benefit in instructional design?

  1. The visual and verbal information must be presented sequentially, not simultaneously
  2. The visual and verbal information must carry complementary information, not duplicate it
  3. The visual information must always be more detailed than the verbal information
  4. The verbal information must be presented as narration, never as text
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The correct answer is B. Dual coding benefits arise when text and diagrams carry complementary information — each channel adds something the other does not. Pairing text with a diagram that carries the same information produces the redundancy effect and hurts learning rather than helping it. Two independent retrieval routes to a concept make it more memorable, but only when those routes carry distinct, complementary content.

Concept Tested: Dual Coding Theory

10. The "germane flywheel" (loop R1) in the cognitive load dynamics creates a compounding positive cycle. What is the correct sequence of this loop?

  1. Extraneous load → crowded germane capacity → weak schemas → high intrinsic load
  2. Schema construction → effective capacity → lower intrinsic load → more germane capacity → more schema construction
  3. Intrinsic load → working memory overflow → reduced encoding → weaker retrieval
  4. Sensory memory → attention → working memory → encoding → long-term memory
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The correct answer is B. The germane flywheel (R1) is a reinforcing loop: germane processing builds schemas; schemas enable chunking, which effectively expands working-memory capacity; expanded capacity means related material has lower perceived intrinsic load; lower intrinsic load leaves more room for germane processing; and the cycle repeats. Each trip around the loop makes the next one easier, which is why good load management compounds over time.

Concept Tested: Germane Cognitive Load