Kindness to Your Brain: Cognitive Learning by Emily Spicer

We all know that 鈥榖rain freeze鈥 feeling, don鈥檛 we? (And I don鈥檛 mean the brain freeze induced by eating an entire tub of cookie dough ice cream in five minutes on a Friday night).
That feeling of the cogs not moving quite quickly enough, not-able-to process - 鈥榗omputer says no鈥. Sitting in a lecture theatre or classroom, or even in front of a documentary or TED talk, and knowing that you should understand, but your mind just鈥 can鈥檛鈥 quite鈥 get there鈥
It can feel terrifying. Debilitating. Overwhelming. Like you鈥檙e the only one in the room not getting it. And it certainly doesn鈥檛 help you learn; quite the opposite.
This 鈥榖rain freeze鈥 is a real thing and it鈥檚 related to a concept called cognitive load.
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A few weeks ago I was at the 鈥 a fantastic event bringing together some of the best minds in British (and international) education. One of the themes that linked a few of the sessions I attended was exactly this; intellectual brain freeze. Or more technically, reaching our brain鈥檚 limit for its cognitive load. It is at the heart of what makes education work (or not work) but often overlooked.
So, what is cognitive load? In layman鈥檚 terms it鈥檚 about . It is thought that our working memory is limited to remembering around (based on Baddeley鈥檚 Model of working memory). So, when we get more than 5-9 new pieces of information thrown at us in a lecture or talk or even textbook, that鈥檚 when our brain goes into 鈥榝reeze鈥 mode and starts forgetting some of the information, limiting our ability to learn and understand.
Working memory and cognitive load are about new information our brain is dealing with at any one time, so there are strategies that we can use to reduce our cognitive load, avoiding that 鈥榖rain freeze鈥 feeling and helping us to learn more effectively.
One is using our long-term memory. Rote learning and memorization isn鈥檛 very fashionable these days, but once we鈥檝e memorised something 鈥 Daisy Christodoulou gave the example of learning our times tables in her talk at the Festival 鈥 it鈥檚 just there. We can draw on it whenever we need it and it doesn鈥檛 all to our cognitive load.
Have you ever wondered why language learning apps like DuoLingo make you repeat strange phrases like 鈥榯he tortoise drinks the milk鈥 over and over? Cognitive load and working memory are behind this. As you repeat and commit verb conjugations to longer term memory, you no longer need to hold them in your working memory, and you free up 鈥榮pace鈥 to move on to more complex concepts.
Another thing that can help to ease cognitive load is the idea of 鈥榚laboration鈥. John Nichols explained in his talk at the Festival that context can help to tie together information, reducing the extra information the brain has to process.
Stories, anecdotes, real life examples, and case studies can all help to reduce cognitive load and enable us to learn and remember the information we need to learn. This is sometimes referred to as creating a 鈥榮chema鈥; instead of teaching facts, a whole web of information is taught, with the facts at the centre. With this kind of teaching you might not even notice that you鈥檙e learning facts, your lesson might feel like it鈥檚 being 鈥榳asted鈥 with stories or anecdotes, but really you鈥檙e creating a rich network of contextual knowledge.
Brain freeze is real. It鈥檚 your brain鈥檚 way of saying 鈥榟elp!鈥 or 鈥榯oo much!鈥. But it鈥檚 not inevitable.
Here at 91自拍论坛 we want you to be stretched, challenged, and pushed to your full potential but we know that being overwhelmed isn鈥檛 any good for anyone. That鈥檚 one of the reasons why our London courses are built around real-life scenarios and projects; by learning new concepts in context, they are easier to digest and you鈥檙e less likely to be overwhelmed.
And it鈥檚 why we鈥檙e paying special attention to how we develop our online courses, to make sure that your knowledge is built up little by little, so that it sticks.
As you learn with us, any brain freeze except the ice cream kind should be eliminated. But you can keep enjoying your cookie dough.
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About the author
Rhys Mackenzie is the Website Marketing Manager at 91自拍论坛. With extensive experience in SEO and digital content management, they are passionate about showcasing the best that Oxford has to offer. Their previous role at Experience Oxfordshire gave them a deep appreciation for the city's unique cultural and academic offerings. Learn more about Rhys here.
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Summary
Explore cognitive load and its influence on learning. Mitigate 'brain freeze' through long-term memory, repetition, and elaboration. At 91自拍论坛, we prioritise contextual learning to avoid overwhelm. Apply now for a transformative summer experience in Oxford, Cambridge, or London.