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Related Experiment Video

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Using Fiberless, Wearable fNIRS to Monitor Brain Activity in Real-world Cognitive Tasks

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Visualizations during arithmetic tasks hamper performance and increase cognitive load in 9-year-olds: an fNIRS study.

Simon Skau¹, Jimmy Karlsson¹, Jakob Åsberg Johnels²

¹Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.

Frontiers in Psychology

|February 27, 2026

Summary

Visual aids unexpectedly increased cognitive load in 9-year-old children during arithmetic tasks, leading to more errors and slower responses. This challenges assumptions about their educational benefits.

Keywords:

arithmetic cognitive load fNIRS increase working memory load pictorial problem text-based visual aid word problem

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Educational Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology

Background:

Previous research presents conflicting findings on the impact of visual aids on cognitive load during learning.
Understanding cognitive load is crucial for optimizing educational strategies and learning outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effect of visual aids on cognitive load in 9-year-old children performing arithmetic tasks.
To differentiate the impact of relevant visual aids versus irrelevant visual information on cognitive load.

Main Methods:

Employed behavioral measures (errors, response time) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive load.
Children (N=81) completed arithmetic tasks under varying conditions: text-only, with visual aids, and with irrelevant visual information, across low and high cognitive load levels.

Main Results:

Tasks with visual aids led to significantly more errors and slower response times compared to text-based tasks.
Increased functional activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) was observed with visual aids, indicating higher cognitive load.
Irrelevant visual information slowed response times but did not significantly impact error rates compared to text-based tasks.

Conclusions:

Contrary to the hypothesis, visual aids appear to increase, rather than decrease, cognitive load in this context.
Findings highlight the importance of carefully considering the design and relevance of visual aids in educational settings.
The study underscores the need to refine theories of cognitive load, particularly regarding intrinsic versus extraneous load and necessary controls in research.