Research Library

Every source, annotated and linked.

These are the peer-reviewed studies, reviews and meta-analyses that Cognitive Lab cites. Each links to its DOI or publisher and says, in plain language, what it shows. Key sources have a full research record: design, findings, limitations and our interpretation, kept separate.

PrototypeAnnotations are written by the Cognitive Lab team and have not yet been checked by external reviewers. Read the original source before relying on a claim.

49 sources · sources with full research records listed first

Theoretical paper2024
Mayer, R. E. (2024). The past, present, and future of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Educational Psychology Review, 36, Article 8.
A recent overview of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning by its originator: its assumptions (dual channels, limited capacity, active processing), its design principles, and open questions.
doi:10.1007/s10648-023-09842-1(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
What has the theory claimed, what evidence supports its principles, and where should research go next?
Design
A theoretical review by the originator of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.
What it found
Restates three assumptions: separate verbal and visual channels, limited capacity in each, and learning as active processing.
Distinguishes extraneous, essential and generative processing, with design principles aimed at each.
Notes boundary conditions, such as principles that matter most for learners with less prior knowledge.
Limitations
A review by the theory’s author rather than an independent appraisal.
Much underlying research uses short, system-paced lessons with university students.
Educational implications
Remove material that does not serve the explanation, place labels near what they describe, and signal what matters.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab treats the design principles as well-supported defaults that should be adapted, especially for more expert learners.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Systematic review2021
Perry, T., Lea, R., Jørgensen, C. R., Cordingley, P., Shapiro, K., & Youdell, D. (2021). Cognitive science approaches in the classroom: A review of the evidence. Education Endowment Foundation.
A systematic review of classroom evidence for approaches derived from cognitive science. Concludes that the principles are promising but that classroom evidence is more variable than laboratory evidence and implementation matters.
Publisher page(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
What does classroom evidence say about approaches such as spacing, retrieval, interleaving, dual coding and cognitive load?
Design
A systematic review of classroom evidence for cognitive-science-informed approaches.
What it found
The principles are broadly promising, but classroom evidence is more limited and variable than laboratory evidence.
How an approach is implemented, and with which content and pupils, appears to matter.
Limitations
Classroom studies differ widely in quality and design.
Some approaches have very few school-based studies.
Educational implications
Treat cognitive science as a set of principles to adapt thoughtfully and check, not a fixed set of routines.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
This review is one reason Cognitive Lab separates established findings from classroom applications.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Professional guidance2021
Collin, J., & Smith, E. (2021). Effective professional development: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation.
Guidance on designing teacher professional development around mechanisms that build knowledge, motivate teachers, develop teaching techniques and embed practice. Informs how Cognitive Lab structures its pathways.
Publisher page(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
What characteristics of teacher professional development are associated with improved pupil outcomes?
Design
A guidance report drawing on a systematic review and meta-analysis of professional development.
What it found
Recommends PD that builds knowledge, motivates teachers, develops teaching techniques and embeds practice.
Identifies specific mechanisms, such as modelling, rehearsal, feedback and action planning.
Limitations
Guidance synthesises evidence and professional judgement; not every recommendation is equally well tested.
Educational implications
Learning about a strategy is not enough on its own; rehearsal, feedback and planned follow-up matter.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab’s pathways include modelling, practice, application plans and follow-up reflection for this reason.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Systematic review2017
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2017). Does far transfer exist? Negative evidence from chess, music, and working memory training. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 515–520.
Summarises meta-analytic evidence that training in chess, music or working memory rarely transfers to distant academic or general cognitive skills, especially in better-controlled studies.
doi:10.1177/0963721417712760(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Does training in chess, music or working memory transfer to distant skills such as academic achievement or general intelligence?
Design
A short review summarising several meta-analyses of cognitive training.
What it found
Far transfer effects were generally small or absent.
Effects tended to shrink in better-designed studies, such as those with active control groups.
Limitations
Written by authors of the meta-analyses it summarises.
Does not address near transfer or the intrinsic value of chess or music.
Educational implications
Be cautious of programmes claiming that training one skill will improve learning broadly.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab uses this as a reason to teach strategies within subjects rather than through general “brain training”.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Narrative review2014
Howard-Jones, P. A. (2014). Neuroscience and education: Myths and messages. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(12), 817–824.
Reviewed common neuromyths among teachers and discussed how neuroscience can responsibly inform education.
doi:10.1038/nrn3817(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Which misconceptions about the brain are common among teachers, why do they persist, and what does neuroscience actually say?
Design
A narrative review of neuromyths in education.
What it found
Myths such as learning styles and “left-brain/right-brain” learners were widely endorsed by teachers in several countries.
Myths often grow from distorted versions of genuine findings.
Limitations
Prevalence data come from surveys that differ in sampling and wording.
A review rather than a new empirical study.
Educational implications
Be cautious of products and training that use brain terminology to justify teaching practices.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab uses this review to explain why it labels claims by evidence type and avoids brain imagery as decoration.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Theoretical paper2014
Chi, M. T. H., & Wylie, R. (2014). The ICAP framework: Linking cognitive engagement to active learning outcomes. Educational Psychologist, 49(4), 219–243.
Proposes four modes of cognitive engagement — passive, active, constructive and interactive — defined by what learners overtly do, and hypothesises that learning tends to increase across those modes.
doi:10.1080/00461520.2014.965823(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Can learning activities be classified by the kind of cognitive engagement they invite, and do those categories predict learning?
Design
A theoretical framework, supported by a review of prior studies, linking observable learning activities to modes of engagement.
What it found
Proposes passive, active, constructive and interactive modes, defined by overt learner behaviour.
Reviewed studies were broadly consistent with learning increasing from passive to interactive modes.
Limitations
Overt behaviour is an imperfect indicator of the thinking that is happening.
The hierarchy is a hypothesis; the size and reliability of differences vary across studies.
An “interactive” activity done poorly may not outperform a well-designed constructive one.
Educational implications
When designing tasks, ask what students will generate, not only what they will do. Discussion and explanation can raise engagement when they require building on each other’s ideas.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab uses ICAP as a planning lens. It is not a reason to make every activity collaborative.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Narrative review2013
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
Evaluated ten study techniques against a common set of criteria; practice testing and distributed practice received the highest utility ratings.
doi:10.1177/1529100612453266(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Which commonly recommended study techniques have strong evidence across learners, materials and settings?
Design
A narrative review that rated ten learning techniques on their utility using the available evidence.
What it found
Practice testing and distributed practice were rated as high utility.
Elaborative interrogation, self-explanation and interleaved practice were rated as moderate utility.
Summarisation, highlighting, the keyword mnemonic, imagery for text and rereading were rated as low utility.
Limitations
Ratings are expert judgements, not a formal meta-analysis.
The evidence base reviewed predates many recent classroom studies.
A “low utility” rating means limited evidence of broad benefit, not that a technique never helps.
Educational implications
Teachers can prioritise retrieval and spacing when helping students study independently, and be cautious about rereading and highlighting as main strategies.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab uses this review as a map of relative evidence strength rather than a ranking to apply mechanically.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Narrative review2008/2009
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008/2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119.
Set out what evidence would be needed to support matching instruction to “learning styles” and found that adequate support was lacking.
doi:10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Does matching instruction to a learner’s preferred style improve learning?
Design
A review that set out the evidence needed to support the learning-styles hypothesis, then examined the literature against it.
What it found
Supporting the hypothesis requires a specific crossover interaction: each style group learns better with its matched method.
Very few studies used a design capable of testing this, and those that did largely did not find the predicted pattern.
Limitations
Concludes there is no adequate evidence, which is not the same as proving no individual differences exist.
Educational implications
Do not sort students by visual, auditory or kinaesthetic “style”. Choose representations to suit the content.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Dual coding is about combining words and visuals for everyone — not about matching a style.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Experimental study2006
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
A widely cited demonstration that recalling prose passages produced better retention on delayed tests than restudying, although restudy looked stronger on an immediate test.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
Does taking a memory test improve long-term retention more than studying the same material again?
Design
Two laboratory experiments comparing restudying with taking recall tests, with final tests at several delays.
Participants
Undergraduate students.
What it found
On a test five minutes later, students who restudied tended to recall as much or more than those who were tested.
On tests two days and one week later, students who had been tested recalled more than those who restudied.
Students who repeatedly restudied predicted they would remember more than students who were repeatedly tested.
Limitations
University students reading short prose passages in a laboratory.
The final measure was free recall of the passages, not a classroom assessment.
Delays were measured in days, not months.
Educational implications
How learning looks immediately after study can be a poor guide to how much will be retained. Recall attempts are worth their apparent inefficiency.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
Cognitive Lab treats this as a clear, well-replicated demonstration rather than as proof that any quiz will help. Later classroom studies are needed to establish how far it generalises.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Meta-analysis2006
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
Quantitative synthesis of the spacing effect: distributing practice over time generally improved retention compared with massed practice.
doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354(opens in a new tab)
Research recorddesign, findings, limitations
Research question
How does the gap between study sessions affect later recall, and does the best gap depend on when memory is tested?
Design
A quantitative synthesis of experiments on distributed practice in verbal recall tasks.
What it found
Spacing study sessions generally produced better recall than massing them together.
The most effective gap tended to increase as the time until the final test increased.
Limitations
Mostly verbal recall tasks such as word lists and facts.
Many included studies were laboratory-based with adult participants.
Educational implications
Review should be spread out, and material that must last longer benefits from longer gaps between reviews.
Cognitive Lab interpretation
This supports planned review across weeks. It does not specify an ideal schedule for a particular class or subject.
Editorial summary · last checked 2026-10-18 · not independently reviewed
Systematic review2021
Agarwal, P. K., Nunes, L. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2021). Retrieval practice consistently benefits student learning: A systematic review of applied research in schools and classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 1409–1453.
Focused specifically on applied studies in real classrooms across ages and subjects — directly relevant to teachers.
doi:10.1007/s10648-021-09595-9(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2021
Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435.
Meta-analysis restricted to classroom studies, examining moderators and assessing publication bias.
doi:10.1037/bul0000309(opens in a new tab)
Book2021
Willingham, D. T. (2021). Why don’t students like school? (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
A cognitive scientist’s account of how memory, thinking and background knowledge shape classroom learning, written for teachers.
Book2020
Mayer, R. E. (2020). Multimedia learning (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
The book-length presentation of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and its evidence-based design principles.
Narrative review2019
Sweller, J., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive architecture and instructional design: 20 years later. Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), 261–292.
An updated account of Cognitive Load Theory by its principal authors, including worked examples, the expertise reversal effect and how the theory has changed.
doi:10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2018
Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018). Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710–756.
Reviewed whether benefits of retrieval transfer to different question types and contexts; transfer was present but more variable than for practised items.
doi:10.1037/bul0000151(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2017
Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3), 659–701.
Meta-analysis across laboratory and classroom studies, including comparisons of practice-test formats and educational levels.
doi:10.3102/0034654316689306(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2017
Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N. M., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The influences of emotion on learning and memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1454.
A broad review of how emotion interacts with attention, encoding and retrieval.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01454(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2016
Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Eight ways to promote generative learning. Educational Psychology Review, 28(4), 717��741.
Reviewed generative strategies such as summarising, mapping, drawing, self-testing and self-explaining.
doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9348-9(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2016
Richter, J., Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2016). Signaling text-picture relations in multimedia learning: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 17, 19–36.
Found a small-to-moderate overall benefit of cues that highlight how text and pictures relate, with the benefit concentrated among learners with less prior knowledge.
doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.003(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2015
van Gog, T., & Sweller, J. (2015). Not new, but nearly forgotten: The testing effect decreases or even disappears as the complexity of learning materials increases. Educational Psychology Review, 27(2), 247–264.
Argues, from a cognitive load perspective, that the testing effect weakens for complex, highly interactive material. An important boundary-condition challenge, not a refutation.
doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9310-x(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2015
Karpicke, J. D., & Aue, W. R. (2015). The testing effect is alive and well with complex materials. Educational Psychology Review, 27(2), 317–326.
A direct reply to van Gog and Sweller, pointing to studies showing retrieval benefits with complex prose and concepts. Read the two together as an open debate.
doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9309-3(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2014
Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: A meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1432–1463.
Synthesised laboratory research comparing testing with restudy, examining moderators such as feedback, format and retention interval, and reviewing theoretical accounts.
doi:10.1037/a0037559(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2014
Hinze, S. R., & Rapp, D. N. (2014). Retrieval (sometimes) enhances learning: Performance pressure reduces the benefits of retrieval practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(4), 597–606.
Introduced performance pressure during quizzing and found it reduced later benefits — a reason to keep retrieval low-stakes.
doi:10.1002/acp.3032(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2014
Agarwal, P. K., D'Antonio, L., Roediger, H. L., McDermott, K. B., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Classroom-based programs of retrieval practice reduce middle school and high school students’ test anxiety. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3(3), 131–139.
A self-report survey of students who had experienced low-stakes classroom quizzing; most reported lower, not higher, test anxiety. Self-report, with no control group.
doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2014.07.002(opens in a new tab)
Book2014
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
An accessible book by two memory researchers and a writer, covering retrieval, spacing, interleaving and the illusions of fluency that mislead learners.
Narrative review2013
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.
Reviewed the core executive functions — inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility — and their development.
doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2011
Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772–775.
Compared retrieval practice with concept mapping as a study activity, including on inference questions.
doi:10.1126/science.1199327(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2011
McDaniel, M. A., Agarwal, P. K., Huelser, B. J., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. (2011). Test-enhanced learning in a middle school science classroom: The effects of quiz frequency and placement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 399–414.
Classroom experiments in US middle school science: low-stakes quizzes improved performance on later unit and end-of-semester exams for quizzed material compared with non-quizzed material.
doi:10.1037/a0021782(opens in a new tab)
Book2011
Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. Jossey-Bass.
The Project Zero book that describes thinking routines such as See-Think-Wonder. It is a practitioner account built from classroom work, not a controlled test of each routine.
Experimental study2010
Butler, A. C. (2010). Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(5), 1118–1133.
Examined whether testing helps learners apply knowledge to new questions and contexts, not only recall the original material.
doi:10.1037/a0019902(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2009
Karpicke, J. D., Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L. (2009). Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own?. Memory, 17(4), 471–479.
Surveyed university students’ study habits; rereading was far more common than self-testing, suggesting that learners underuse retrieval.
doi:10.1080/09658210802647009(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2009
Kornell, N., Hays, M. J., & Bjork, R. A. (2009). Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(4), 989–998.
Attempting to answer before seeing the answer — even when the attempt failed — improved later memory compared with simply studying.
doi:10.1037/a0015729(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2008
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968.
Separated the effects of repeated studying and repeated testing in foreign-language vocabulary learning; repeated retrieval drove long-term retention.
doi:10.1126/science.1152408(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2008
Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Memory & Cognition, 36(3), 604–616.
Multiple-choice tests can lead learners to remember incorrect options; feedback reduced this and strengthened the benefit of testing.
doi:10.3758/MC.36.3.604(opens in a new tab)
Theoretical paper2007
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3–10.
A theoretical essay arguing that emotion is integral to thinking and learning, not separate from it.
doi:10.1111/j.1751-228X.2007.00004.x(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2006
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86.
An influential and contested argument for explicit guidance for novices, grounded in working-memory limits. Read alongside responses to it.
doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2006
Ginns, P. (2006). Integrating information: A meta-analysis of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects. Learning and Instruction, 16(6), 511–525.
Pooled studies comparing integrated with separated words and pictures. Placing related text and graphics together, or presenting them at the same time, generally supported learning.
doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.10.001(opens in a new tab)
Meta-analysis2006
Nesbit, J. C., & Adesope, O. O. (2006). Learning with concept and knowledge maps: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 76(3), 413–448.
Pooled studies comparing concept and knowledge maps with reading text, attending lectures and discussion. Benefits were found across many comparisons, with effects varying by how maps were used and what they were compared against.
doi:10.3102/00346543076003413(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2003
Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43–52.
Summarised design principles for combining words and pictures, derived from a programme of multimedia learning experiments.
doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3801_6(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2003
Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23–31.
Describes how instructional supports that help novices can become unhelpful — or counter-productive — as learners gain expertise. The basis for fading support.
doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3801_4(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2001
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87–114.
Argued that the capacity of the focus of attention in short-term memory is limited to a small number of chunks.
doi:10.1017/S0140525X01003922(opens in a new tab)
Theoretical paper2000
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
Summarised self-determination theory, which links motivation to needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness.
doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study2000
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100.
Found that shifting, updating and inhibition are related but separable abilities — “unity and diversity”.
doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0734(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review2000
Atkinson, R. K., Derry, S. J., Renkl, A., & Wortham, D. (2000). Learning from examples: Instructional principles from the worked examples research. Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181–214.
Reviews research on learning from worked examples and draws out design principles, such as structuring examples clearly and prompting self-explanation.
doi:10.3102/00346543070002181(opens in a new tab)
Experimental study1994
Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1994). Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dynamics in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(5), 1063–1087.
The original laboratory demonstration of retrieval-induced forgetting: practising some items from a category can temporarily impair recall of related, unpractised items.
doi:10.1037/0278-7393.20.5.1063(opens in a new tab)
Theoretical paper1991
Clark, J. M., & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3(3), 149–210.
Applied dual coding theory — separate but connected verbal and non-verbal representations — to educational questions.
doi:10.1007/BF01320076(opens in a new tab)
Narrative review1990
Posner, M. I., & Petersen, S. E. (1990). The attention system of the human brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 13, 25–42.
Described attention as a set of separable networks — including orienting, alerting and executive control — rather than a single faculty.
doi:10.1146/annurev.ne.13.030190.000325(opens in a new tab)
Theoretical paper1988
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.
Foundational paper for cognitive load theory, proposing that some problem-solving methods can impose load that interferes with schema acquisition.
doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4(opens in a new tab)