The Relationship Between Cognitive Offloading and the Transient Information Effect

Abstract

Within the Cognitive Load Theory framework, the transient information effect suggests that learning with transient information before learners can adequately process the information reduces performance, compared to learning information presented in a non-transient way. Cognitive offloading is a process whereby people externalise internal information onto the environment, making the information more accessible and so less transient, supporting task performance by reducing cognitive demands. To date, the two effects have been investigated separately but share similar underlying cognitive mechanisms, whereby both seek to reduce the cognitive load on an individual by making information more accessible and/or less transient to maximise performance. This paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two effects and proposes some new research directions by considering the two effects together.

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Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Chen, O. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9645-1946 Allen, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1887-3016 Waterman, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9882-7206 Sweller, J.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords:	Cognitive Load Theory; human cognitive architecture; working memory; transient information effect; cognitive offloading
Dates:	Accepted: 12 March 2026 Published (online): 31 March 2026 Published: December 2026
Institution:	The University of Leeds
Academic Units:	The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds)
Date Deposited:	01 Jun 2026 13:50
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2026 13:50
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Springer Nature
Identification Number:	10.1007/s10648-026-10132-9
Related URLs:	Author
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:241474

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The Relationship Between Cognitive Offloading and the Transient Information Effect

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