ABSTRACT
Cognitive load as a phenomenon related to the magnitude of the processing demands on working memory is a dynamic characteristic of working-memory operation, indicating the intensity of this operation. This chapter discusses cognitive load measures on their level of objectivity and level of causal relationship. The first dimension, objectivity, describes whether a measurement method uses subjective, self-reported data or objective observations of behaviors. The second dimension, causal relation, classifies measurement methods based on the relation of the observed phenomenon to cognitive load either as direct, or indirect. The chapter reviews which of these measures are able to provide the kind of micro-level measures related to specific time points of the learning process that learner approach requires. It explains one of these approaches, the use of concurrent verbal protocols, in more detail. The chapter looks in more detail at the makeup of cognitive load as a cognitive phenomenon in order to determine the most suitable ways of measuring it.
