Cognitive Load Theory
Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort used by this specific part of the brain.
What is the working memory?
This structural component answers the reader's question: "Why am I reading this?"
What is Context?
In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered this life-saving antibiotic after leaving a petri dish uncovered and finding mold had killed the bacteria.
What is penicillin?
This "feel-good" neurotransmitter, associated with reward and motivation, is released when you eat chocolate, exercise, or get likes on social media.
What is dopamine?
This Japanese dish consists of vinegared rice topped with raw fish.
What is sushi?
In Cognitive Load Theory, this specific type of load corresponds to "task complexity."
What is Intrinsic Load?
This represents the main point or request of the email and should be stated with precision without burying it.
What is Purpose?
Engineer Percy Spencer discovered this kitchen appliance's cooking potential when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket while he worked on radar equipment.
What is the microwave oven?
This psychological phenomenon explains why you suddenly see your new car everywhere after buying it — your brain isn't finding more, it's just noticing more.
What is the Baader-Meinhof effect (frequency illusion)?
This spicy Korean side dish is made from fermented cabbage and is served with almost every meal.
What is kimchi?
This type of cognitive load is driven by useless distractions.
What is Extrinsic Load?
"Please approve by EOD Friday" is an example of an explicit, specific Call to Action, which represents this part of the email structure.
What is Action?
Spencer Silver at 3M created a weak adhesive that nobody wanted — until his colleague Arthur Fry needed a bookmark that wouldn't fall out of his hymn book, giving birth to this office staple.
What are Post-it Notes?
During this sleep stage, your brain is nearly as active as when you're awake, your eyes dart rapidly, and most vivid dreaming occurs — yet your body is temporarily paralyzed.
What is REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep?
This Peruvian dish "cooks" raw fish using citrus juice instead of heat.
What is ceviche?
Germane load refers to mental effort spent on processing information that has this relationship to the present moment.
What is relevancy to "now"?
According to the presentation, doing this with excess background information dilutes your message and frustrates your reader.
What is an "information dump"?
Chemist Roy Plunkett accidentally created this slippery substance in 1938 while experimenting with refrigerants — it later became the world's most famous non-stick coating.
What is Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene/PTFE)?
This Nobel Prize-winning psychologist's book Thinking, Fast and Slow introduced the concept of System 1 (fast, intuitive) vs. System 2 (slow, deliberate) thinking — reshaping how businesses understand consumer decision-making and cognitive biases in leadership.
Who is Daniel Kahneman?
This expensive delicacy is often called 'black gold' and grows underground near tree roots.
What is Truffles?
When cognitive load is kept at this level, it becomes easier for professionals to make higher-quality decisions and think more clearly.
What is low?
A strong one of these previews the outcome or action needed and decides whether an email is opened or ignored, unlike weak examples like "FYI" or "Update".
What is a subject line?
In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a fluorescent screen glowing in his lab while experimenting with cathode rays, accidentally discovering these invisible rays that would revolutionize medicine.
What are X-rays?
When you can't decide between a small and large popcorn at the movies, theaters add a medium priced just below the large to make the large seem like a bargain. This pricing trick is known as this effect.
What is the decoy effect?
This spice, a key ingredient in many curries, is derived from the dried seeds of a plant in the parsley family and is one of the world's oldest.
What is Cumin?