Principles of Learning

"a combination of the intensity of the mental effort being expended by the learners and the level of performance attained by the learners, constitutes the best estimator of instructional efficiency" (p. 266) (Sweller, van Merrienboer, Paas)

From Kelly (1963): "In general man seeks to improve his constructs by increasing his repertory, by altering them to provide better fits, and by subsuming them with superordinate constructs or systems. In seeking improvement he is repeatedly halted by the damage to the system that apparently will result from the alternation of a subordinate construct . Frequently his personal investment in the larger system, or his personal dependence upon it, is so great that he will forego the adoption of a more precise construct in the substructure. It may take a major act of psychotherapy or experience to get him to adjust his construction system to the point where the new and more precise construct can be incorporated." [p. 9]

Intensity Effort Uniqueness Appeal