Fixed cognitive load can be altered by changing the nature of the learn- ing task.
Learners no longer are taught the relations between interacting elements, a major component of intrinsic cognitive load.
Intrinsic cognitive load also will be reduced by the act of learning itself. Learning includes converting a group of interacting elements that are treated as multiple elements in working memory into a smaller number or even a single element.
A major function of learning is to dramatically reduce element interactivity and intrinsic cognitive load by incorporating interacting elements in schemas. The resultant reduction in cognitive load frees working memory resources for other activities. In the present case of reading this text, because working memory resources are not devoted to decoding the text, they can be used to interpret the content, the ultimate aim of learning to read. Thus, learning through schema acquisition eliminates the working memory load imposed by high element interactivity information.