The Interplay of Cognitive Load, Learners’ Resources and Self-regulation

Self-regulated learning depends on task difficulty and on learners’ resources and cognitive load, as described by an inverted U-shaped relationship in Seufert’s (2018) model: for easy tasks, resources are high and load is low, so there is no need to regulate, whereas for difficult tasks, load is too high and resources are too low to regulate. Only at moderate task difficulty do learners regulate, as resources and load are in equilibrium. The purpose of this study is to validate this model, i.e., the inverted U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and self-regulatory activities, as well as learner resources and cognitive load as mediators. In the within-subject study, 67 participants reported their cognitive and metacognitive strategy use for four exams of varying difficulty. For each exam task difficulty, cognitive load, and available resources (such as prior knowledge, interest, etc.) were assessed. Multilevel analysis revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and the use of cognitive strategies. For metacognitive strategies, only a linear relationship was found. Increasing cognitive load mediated these relationship patterns. For learner resources we found a competitive mediation, indicating that further mediators could be relevant. In future investigations a broader range of task difficulty should be examined.