The Cognitive Load of Learning Anatomy in a Virtual World

Introduction Cognitive load refers to the amount of working memory that is being used in a task, like memorizing the anatomical landmarks on distinct boney specimens. Critically, cognitive load may be compromised when the load imposed by the environment and the content to be learned together exceeds a student’s capacity. Previous research shows that stereoscopic materials delivered in virtual reality (VR) can be more mentally taxing compared to …