Western Governors University (WGU) EDUC5266 D665 Learner Development And The Science Of Learning Practice Exam

In cognitive load theory, three types of load shape how much mental effort a learner must use: intrinsic load comes from the inherent difficulty of the task and the learner’s prior knowledge; extraneous load arises from how information is presented and can create unnecessary processing; germane load is the productive mental effort devoted to building and automating schemas. The description in this item aligns with that understanding: intrinsic load is task complexity, extraneous load is unnecessary processing, and germane load is productive processing. The example—removing irrelevant visuals to reduce extraneous load—fits because eliminating pointless elements frees cognitive resources, allowing more effort to go toward meaningful learning and schema construction. Other options mix up these terms (for example, intrinsic load isn’t about memory storage, and extraneous load isn’t simply task complexity), so they don’t match the standard definitions.