Information-processing and instructional design: a look at cognitive inhibition

This paper investigates how the cognitive tasks and strategies associated with current instructional pedagogy can be improved through a better understanding of the role of cognitive inhibition. A review of the literature in this area reveals that a large amount of information dealing with working memory (WM) functions, especially selective attention, has been incorporated into current instructional design approaches. However, a lack of understanding remains about the specific role of cognitive inhibition in the instructional process. Using the information-processing model of learning, this review discusses the relationship between inhibition and instructional design, and proposes a specific research methodology for investigating the role of inhibition further. The scope of the proposed research includes an examination of the types of cognitive tasks (attention-directed or inhibition-directed) embedded within existing instructional information, cognitive measures of instructional load, and comparisons between student levels of cognitive inhibition and type of instructional task. These comparisons are performed in order to classify inhibition-effective strategies. The aim of the research is to highlight "best practice" strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of cognitive inhibition in general classroom instruction.