There are limits on our ability to learn and process information. Overloading ourselves with information can impact productivity by causing psychological and physiological stress. In this talk I relate some findings from the world of cognitive psychology that can help us understand how, as developers, we might be overloading ourselves. I'll also describe some simple techniques to avoid suffering information overload or imposing it on others.

1. Jo Pearce
@jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
Non-binary (they/them), developer and science womble.
Hacking Your Head
Managing Information Overload

2. Hacking Your Head : Managing Information Overload
@jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
What is Information Overload?

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“Surviving the collision with tomorrow…”

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“…there are discoverable limits to the amount of
change that the human organism can absorb”
“…without first determining these limits we may
submit masses of [people] to demands they
simply cannot tolerate.”
Alvin Toffler
(Future Shock, 1970)

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Information Overload
Anxiety
Hostility
Senseless Violence
Physical Illness
Depression
Apathy

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Orientation Response
Pupils dilate…
Hearing becomes more acute…
Muscles tense…
Blood rushes to the head…
Breathing and heart rate alter…

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A soldier falls asleep “while a storm of machine gun bullets
splattered around him” not due to physical tiredness, but a
“sense of overpowering apathy”.
Soldiers became hypersensitive and would “hit the dirt” at the
slightest stimuli, increasingly showing anxiety and anger at the
slightest inconvenience.
The effects of overload in WWII

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The overwhelming office?

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“…the [orientation response] occurs not
merely in response to simple sensory
inputs.
It happens when we come across novel
ideas or information as well…”
Alvin Toffler
(Future Shock, 1970)

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20 million words of new technical
information are recorded each day.
Jackson, W. (2001). Information overload and managerial roles: A naturalistic study of engineers.
At 1000 words/minute, 8 hours/day this is six weeks of reading.

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After reading the information for that one day
you would have fallen behind by 5.5 years!
Jackson, W. (2001). Information overload and managerial roles: A naturalistic study of engineers.

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Information Fatigue Syndrome
Poor Concentration Hurry Sickness
Pervasive Hostility
Stress
Depression
Lowered Immune Response
“Burn out”

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There is always a lot to learn
Information overload is a learning problem!

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How do we learn?

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Working Memory Long Term Memory

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Working Memory
Processes Information
Active Thinking & Learning
Comprises visual & auditory subcomponents

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Long Term Memory
Enormous Capacity
Cannot engage in thinking or learning processes

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Results of learning
Knowledge Retrieval

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Attention
Elaboration-Rehearsal
Encoding
The Learning Process

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Attention is critical to processing information.
“In 1972 an Eastern Airlines flight crashed…as a result of cockpit distractions.
The crew became so preoccupied with a malfunction that no one noticed the
altimeter reading or warnings until it was too late…”

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We can help focus attention with cues and signals.
e.g.
“It is important to note that…”
Bullet points!
Paragraphs and Headings
Visual indicators
Signalling language -

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Modality Effect
👁
"🔊
+

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Elaboration-Rehearsal helps promote Automaticity.
Writing
Reading
Speaking
Skills that become automatic require little or no
processing in the working memory. Such as :

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Encoding : Schemas
Multiple Elements Single Schema

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Novice Learner Schemas

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Experienced Learner Schemas

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Understanding Our Limitations

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The Magical Number 7 ± 2
(George A. Miller, 1956)

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The Magical Number 7 ± 2
(George A. Miller, 1956)
Working Memory
Information In

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The Magical Number 7 ± 2
(George A. Miller, 1956)
Overloaded Working Memory
Information In

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The Magical (but finite) Number X?

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Schema=
Novice Experienced

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How do we work with our
limitations?

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Cognitive Science 12 (2), June 1988John Sweller
“Cognitive load during problem solving:
Effects on learning”.

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Cognitive Load Theory

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Defines cognitive load as the total amount of mental
effort being used in the working memory
Describes a universal set of evidence-based principles for
managing cognitive load that lead to efficient learning.
What is Cognitive Load Theory?

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Total cognitive load is comprised of three types:
Intrinsic Load
Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load
Germane (Relevant) Load

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Imposed by the inherent complexity of the task being performed.
e.g.
Learning to juggle 10 balls is inherently more
complex than learning to juggle 3.
Intrinsic Load

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Imposed by the inherent complexity of the task being performed.
Manage by breaking large tasks into smaller ones!
Intrinsic Load

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Epic
User Story
TaskTaskTask
User Story
TaskTaskTask
User Story
TaskTaskTask

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Imposed by distractions or tasks which are irrelevant to the goal.
Coping with a loud environment
Unfamiliarity with a development tool
Unreadable code
e.g.
Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load

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Try working somewhere quieter…
…or wearing headphones?

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Reduce the number of tools or libraries to a minimum…

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Paragraphs of code

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Paragraphs of code
Use appropriate whitespace and line breaks as cues…

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“Code tells you how, comments tell you why”.
Jeff Atwood
@codinghorror

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Good comments signal that all is not as
straightforward as it might appear…
⁉

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Maintain consistency without the load of learning a style-guide…

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Extraneous (Irrelevant) Load
Reducing irrelevant load focuses attention

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Beneficial load imposed by tasks which are relevant to an overall goal.
Repetition and context variation give us the skills to
apply knowledge in a wider variety of situations.
Germane (Relevant) Load
Essential for complex schema creation

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Repetition = Practice

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Context Variation
Tree?

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How about a different context?

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Goal : Understand existing codebase.
👍

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Develop more flexible schemas through pairing…
This can leverage the modality effect…

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Germane (Relevant) Load
Elaborate and rehearse existing schemas
Encode new information
Promote automaticity

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We constantly need to learn…

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Cognitive psychology can tell
us how we learn...

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But it also tells us that there are
limits to our ability to learn…

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Manage
Intrinsic
Load
Increase
Relevant
Load
+
Reduce
Irrelevant
Load
+
= Efficient Learning & Increased Productivity
Cognitive Load Theory

66. Jo Pearce
@jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
Non-binary (they/them), developer and science womble.
Thanks!
Any questions?

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@jdpearce jopearce.co.uk
Bibliography
“Future Shock”
- Alvin Toffler
“Efficiency in Learning: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load”
- Ruth Colvin Clark; Frank Nguyen; John Sweller
“Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement”
- Ruth Colvin Clark
“Cognitive Psychology”
- Michael Eysenck; Mark T. Keane