The expertise reversal effect
Slava Kalyuga, Paul Ayres, Paul Chandler and John Sweller review the expertise reversal effect. New information must be processed in a working memory of severe limits, and learning eases the constraint because schemas stored in long-term memory allow more efficient processing. Instructional techniques that reduce working memory load can help learners build and automate schemas, but they work differently depending on expertise: methods that help novices can lose their value or even hurt more experienced learners. The authors name this the expertise reversal effect and review the research that identified it.
Slava Kalyuga, Paul Ayres, Paul Chandler and John Sweller review the expertise reversal effect. New information must be processed in a working memory of severe limits, and learning eases the constraint because schemas stored in long-term memory allow more efficient processing. Instructional techniques that reduce working memory load can help learners build and automate schemas, but they work differently depending on expertise: methods that help novices can lose their value or even hurt more experienced learners. The authors name this the expertise reversal effect and review the research that identified it.
Written from the abstract as shown on the University of Wollongong record, read 2026-10-29.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). “The expertise reversal effect.” Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23-31. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3801_4 https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3801_4