Editing Cognitive load (section)

===Children===
In 2004, British psychologists, [[Alan Baddeley]] and [[Graham Hitch]] proposed that the components of [[working memory]] are in place at 6 years of age.<ref name="Children">{{cite journal |last1=Gathercole |first1=Susan E. |last2=Pickering |first2=Susan J. |last3=Ambridge |first3=Benjamin |last4=Wearing |first4=Hannah |title=The Structure of Working Memory From 4 to 15 Years of Age |journal=Developmental Psychology |date=2004 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=177–190 |doi=10.1037/0012-1649.40.2.177 |pmid=14979759 |citeseerx=10.1.1.529.2727 }}</ref> They found a clear difference between adult and child knowledge. These differences were due to developmental increases in processing efficiency.<ref name="Children"/> Children lack general knowledge, and this is what creates increased cognitive load in children. Children in impoverished families often experience even higher cognitive load in learning environments than those in middle-class families.<ref name="Siegler and Alibali"/> These children do not hear, talk, or learn about schooling concepts because their parents often do not have formal education.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} When it comes to learning, their lack of experience with numbers, words, and concepts increases their cognitive load.

As children grow older they develop superior basic processes and capacities.<ref name="Siegler and Alibali">{{cite book |last1=Siegler |first1=Robert S. |last2=Alibali |first2=Martha Wagner |title=Children's Thinking |date=2005 |publisher=Pearson Education/Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-111384-8 }}{{page needed|date=July 2020}}</ref> They also develop [[metacognition]], which helps them to understand their own cognitive activities.<ref name="Siegler and Alibali"/> Lastly, they gain greater content knowledge through their experiences.<ref name="Siegler and Alibali"/> These elements help reduce cognitive load in children as they develop.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

[[Gesture|Gesturing]] is a technique children use to reduce cognitive load while speaking.<ref name="Gathercole">{{cite journal |last1=Ping |first1=Raedy |last2=Goldin-Meadow |first2=Susan |title=Gesturing Saves Cognitive Resources When Talking About Nonpresent Objects |journal=Cognitive Science |date=May 2010 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=602–619 |doi=10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01102.x |pmid=21564226 |pmc=3733275 }}</ref> By gesturing, they can free up [[working memory]] for other tasks.<ref name="Gathercole"/> Pointing allows a child to use the object they are pointing at as the best representation of it, which means they do not have to hold this representation in their [[working memory]], thereby reducing their cognitive load.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ballard |first1=Dana H. |last2=Hayhoe |first2=Mary M. |author-link2=Mary Hayhoe |last3=Pook |first3=Polly K. |last4=Rao |first4=Rajesh P. N. |date=1 December 1997 |title=Deictic codes for the embodiment of cognition |journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=723–742 |citeseerx=10.1.1.49.3813 |doi=10.1017/s0140525x97001611 |pmid=10097009 |s2cid=1961389}}</ref> Additionally, gesturing about an object that is absent reduces the difficulty of having to picture it in their mind.<ref name="Gathercole"/>