The impact of intrinsic cognitive load on the effectiveness of graphical help for coherence formation

Learning with multiple representations requires the mental integration of corresponding information. This highly demanding process of coherence formation can, for example, be assisted by inter-representational hyperlinks, which foster the visual search for correspondences. In three studies we analyzed the effectiveness of hyperlinks depending on the amount of intrinsic cognitive load (ICL), which is on the one hand determined by the complexity of the learning task and on the other hand by the learners’ expertise. In the first two studies we varied the complexity of the integration task and found that the hyperlinks were only effective for the less complex task (low ICL). In the third study the amount of ICL has been varied by the level of expertise and the effects supported the previous outcomes: the help again was only effective in conditions of low ICL (higher expertise), whereas with high ICL (lower expertise) it was ineffective.