When people focus attention or carry out a demanding task, their breathing changes. But which parameters of respiration vary exactly and can respiration reliably be used as an index of cognitive load? These questions are addressed in the present systematic review of empirical studies investigating respiratory behavior in response to cognitive load. Most reviewed studies were restricted to time ...

Physiological assessment of cognitive processes has become a topic of increased interest. The value of understanding and measuring brain function at work has the potential to improve performance. The emphasis of this paper is to discuss how pupil diameter can be applied to learning. The link between pupil diameter and task difficulty, or cognitive load, has been repeatedly demonstrated for the ...

The present research shows in 4 studies that cognitive load can reduce the impact of temptations on cognition and behavior and, thus, challenges the proposition that distraction always hampers self-regulation. Participants performed different speeded categorization tasks with pictures of attractive and neutral food items (Studies 1-3) and attractive and unattractive female faces (Study 4), whil...

Problems in learning with hypertext systems have been claimed to be caused by high levels of disorientation and cognitive load. This was recognized by DeStefano and LeFevre [DeStefano, D., & LeFevre, J. -A., (2007). Cognitive load in hypertext reading: A review. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(3), 1616–1641.] who predicted an increase of cognitive load and impairment of learning for hypertexts ...

Although a great deal of research addresses the neural basis of deliberate and intentional emotion-regulation strategies, less attention has been paid to the neural mechanisms involved in implicit forms of emotion regulation. Behavioural research suggests that romantically involved participants implicitly derogate the attractiveness of alternative partners, and the present study sought to exami...

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) modulates the excitability of neuronal responses and consequently can affect performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. However, the interaction between cognitive load and the effects of tDCS is currently not well-understood. We recorded the performance accuracy of participants on a bilateral multiple object tracking task while undergoing bilater...

This experimental study extended previous research concerning cognitive load and source expertise on attitude certainty by replacing source expertise with another component of source credibility, trustworthiness. Under either high or low cognitive load conditions, participants generated counterarguments to a message either high or low in trustworthiness. Participants became more certain of thei...

Well-designed interfaces use procedural and sensory cues to increase the salience of appropriate actions and intentions. However, empirical studies suggest that cognitive load can influence the strength of procedural and sensory cues. We formalise the relationship between salience and cognitive load revealed by empirical data. We add these rules to our abstract cognitive architecture developed ...

Many didactic lectures induce a cognitive load in learners out of proportion to the content that they need to learn (or can learn) during that teaching session. This is due in part to the content, and in part to the way it is displayed or presented. By reducing the cognitive load on our audience, we can increase long-term retention of information. This article briefly summarizes some of the sci...

The present research examines whether cognitive load can modulate the processing of negative emotional stimuli, even after negative stimuli have already activated emotional centers of the brain. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants viewed neutral and negative stimuli that were followed by an attention-demanding arithmetic task. As expected, exposure to negative ...