Fred Paas | Erasmus University Rotterdam (original) (raw)
Papers by Fred Paas
American Journal of Psychology, 2002
Medical specialists confronted with problems in their domain of expertise do not rely on intentio... more Medical specialists confronted with problems in their domain of expertise do not rely on intentional causal reasoning, using explicit principles or rules. Rather, reasoning is an automatic process, using knowledge in an encapsulated mode. Less clear is what happens when medical specialists encounter problems outside their specialties. To shed light on this issue, we asked cardiologists and pulmonologists to evaluate 4 clinical cases, 2 in the domain of cardiology and 2 in pulmonology. Their task was to study, diagnose, recall, and explain the signs and symptoms of the clinical case descriptions. The cardiologists and pulmonologists alike processed cases in their specialties faster and more accurately, but recall and pathophysiological explanations did not reveal significant differences. These results suggest that medical specialists do not process cases outside their specialties in a qualitatively different mode from cases within their specialties.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, Jun 1, 1994
International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1997
APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser c... more APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser configuration. - alerts user that their session is about to expire - display, print, save, export, and email selected records - get My ...
Applied Cognitive Psychology, Mar 1, 2011
Applied Cognitive Psychology, Nov 1, 2012
Learning and Instruction, Apr 1, 2010
Psychological Reports, 2002
Effects of distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onset were studi... more Effects of distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onset were studied in a selective attention task. Two experiments required 128 participants to decide as quickly and accurately as possible which of two spatially separated one-digit numerals was larger. Targets were either preceded or succeeded by distractors with intervals of 0, 33, 83, 133, 183, and 233 msec. In Exp. 1, the target digits could appear with 0, 1, 2, or 3 one-digit distractors numerals, representing four levels of distractor load. In Exp. 2, three asterisks were used as distractors. Interference effects of digit distractors varied with distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onsets. Moreover, the effects of distractors preceding the target differed from distractors succeeding the target. The pattern of results provided evidence that distractor-interference effects originated from stimulus competition for selection in visual short-term memory. The results were interpreted in terms of attentional engagement theory of Duncan and Humphreys.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2000
Educational Psychology Review, Mar 29, 2014
ABSTRACT According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the ... more ABSTRACT According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the learning of new tasks together with its ability to cooperate with an unlimited long-term memory (LTM) for familiar tasks enable human beings to deal effectively with complex problems and acquire highly complex knowledge and skills. With regard to WM, CLT has focused to a large extent on learning task characteristics, and to a lesser extent on learner characteristics to manage WM load and optimize learning through instructional design. With regard to LTM, explanations of human learning and cognition have mainly focused on domain-general skills, instead of domain-specific knowledge held in LTM. The contributions to this special issue provide a broader cognitive load view on the role of memory in learning and education by presenting the historical roots and conceptual development of the concept of WM, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of current debates about WM mechanisms (Cowan 2014), by presenting an updated model of cognitive load in which the physical learning environment is considered a distinct causal factor for WM load (Choi et al. 2014), by an experimental demonstration of the effects of persistent pain on the available WM resources for learning (Smith and Ayres 2014), and by using aspects of evolutionary educational psychology to argue for the primacy of domain-specific knowledge in human cognition (Tricot and Sweller 2014).
Educational Psychology Review, Apr 8, 2009
American Psychological Association eBooks, 2012
Frontiers in Psychology, Sep 10, 2021
Learning and Instruction, Dec 1, 2014
Educational Psychology Review, May 26, 2007
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2007
In this contribution we argue that challenges of contemporary education require new forms of coll... more In this contribution we argue that challenges of contemporary education require new forms of collaboration and communication across disciplines. Interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to enable us to make truly original and useful contributions to cognitive load theory and practice. Using cognitive load theory as an example, I will show that the cutting edge of cognitive load research lies across the boundaries of disciplines. Four examples will be presented to illustrate how the transfer of methods and findings from exercise physiology, neuroscience, and cognitive aging research have advanced or may advance cognitive load theory: 1) Ratings of perceived exertion from the discipline of exercise physiology have been adapted and successfully used in cognitive load research to measure cognitive load. 2) Findings from recent neuroscience research may further the explanation for why dynamic visualizations are particularly effective when learning tasks involve human movement, and largely ineffective when depicting mechanical, non-human movement. 3) Research on interhemispheric cooperation is used as a model for cognitive load research into the effectiveness of group learning. 4) Cognitive aging research is used to show that age-related reductions in attentional control over information that was not initially relevant can actually lead to superior performance for older adults when this information serves as a solution to subsequent problems.
Human Movement Science, Oct 1, 1997
ABSTRACT
American Journal of Psychology, 2002
Medical specialists confronted with problems in their domain of expertise do not rely on intentio... more Medical specialists confronted with problems in their domain of expertise do not rely on intentional causal reasoning, using explicit principles or rules. Rather, reasoning is an automatic process, using knowledge in an encapsulated mode. Less clear is what happens when medical specialists encounter problems outside their specialties. To shed light on this issue, we asked cardiologists and pulmonologists to evaluate 4 clinical cases, 2 in the domain of cardiology and 2 in pulmonology. Their task was to study, diagnose, recall, and explain the signs and symptoms of the clinical case descriptions. The cardiologists and pulmonologists alike processed cases in their specialties faster and more accurately, but recall and pathophysiological explanations did not reveal significant differences. These results suggest that medical specialists do not process cases outside their specialties in a qualitatively different mode from cases within their specialties.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, Jun 1, 1994
International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1997
APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser c... more APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser configuration. - alerts user that their session is about to expire - display, print, save, export, and email selected records - get My ...
Applied Cognitive Psychology, Mar 1, 2011
Applied Cognitive Psychology, Nov 1, 2012
Learning and Instruction, Apr 1, 2010
Psychological Reports, 2002
Effects of distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onset were studi... more Effects of distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onset were studied in a selective attention task. Two experiments required 128 participants to decide as quickly and accurately as possible which of two spatially separated one-digit numerals was larger. Targets were either preceded or succeeded by distractors with intervals of 0, 33, 83, 133, 183, and 233 msec. In Exp. 1, the target digits could appear with 0, 1, 2, or 3 one-digit distractors numerals, representing four levels of distractor load. In Exp. 2, three asterisks were used as distractors. Interference effects of digit distractors varied with distractor load and temporal separation between target and distractor onsets. Moreover, the effects of distractors preceding the target differed from distractors succeeding the target. The pattern of results provided evidence that distractor-interference effects originated from stimulus competition for selection in visual short-term memory. The results were interpreted in terms of attentional engagement theory of Duncan and Humphreys.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2000
Educational Psychology Review, Mar 29, 2014
ABSTRACT According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the ... more ABSTRACT According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the learning of new tasks together with its ability to cooperate with an unlimited long-term memory (LTM) for familiar tasks enable human beings to deal effectively with complex problems and acquire highly complex knowledge and skills. With regard to WM, CLT has focused to a large extent on learning task characteristics, and to a lesser extent on learner characteristics to manage WM load and optimize learning through instructional design. With regard to LTM, explanations of human learning and cognition have mainly focused on domain-general skills, instead of domain-specific knowledge held in LTM. The contributions to this special issue provide a broader cognitive load view on the role of memory in learning and education by presenting the historical roots and conceptual development of the concept of WM, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of current debates about WM mechanisms (Cowan 2014), by presenting an updated model of cognitive load in which the physical learning environment is considered a distinct causal factor for WM load (Choi et al. 2014), by an experimental demonstration of the effects of persistent pain on the available WM resources for learning (Smith and Ayres 2014), and by using aspects of evolutionary educational psychology to argue for the primacy of domain-specific knowledge in human cognition (Tricot and Sweller 2014).
Educational Psychology Review, Apr 8, 2009
American Psychological Association eBooks, 2012
Frontiers in Psychology, Sep 10, 2021
Learning and Instruction, Dec 1, 2014
Educational Psychology Review, May 26, 2007
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2007
In this contribution we argue that challenges of contemporary education require new forms of coll... more In this contribution we argue that challenges of contemporary education require new forms of collaboration and communication across disciplines. Interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to enable us to make truly original and useful contributions to cognitive load theory and practice. Using cognitive load theory as an example, I will show that the cutting edge of cognitive load research lies across the boundaries of disciplines. Four examples will be presented to illustrate how the transfer of methods and findings from exercise physiology, neuroscience, and cognitive aging research have advanced or may advance cognitive load theory: 1) Ratings of perceived exertion from the discipline of exercise physiology have been adapted and successfully used in cognitive load research to measure cognitive load. 2) Findings from recent neuroscience research may further the explanation for why dynamic visualizations are particularly effective when learning tasks involve human movement, and largely ineffective when depicting mechanical, non-human movement. 3) Research on interhemispheric cooperation is used as a model for cognitive load research into the effectiveness of group learning. 4) Cognitive aging research is used to show that age-related reductions in attentional control over information that was not initially relevant can actually lead to superior performance for older adults when this information serves as a solution to subsequent problems.
Human Movement Science, Oct 1, 1997
ABSTRACT