Reducing Load, Fostering Curiosity: Empirical Validation of the IMCLM-XR

Extended Reality (XR) is increasingly used in education, particularly in complex spatial learning domains such as neuroanatomy. Although prior research highlights XR’s potential to enhance engagement and improve learning, the cognitive and motivational mechanisms underlying these effects remain insufficiently understood. This study introduces the Integrative Model of Cognitive Load and Motivation in XR learning (IMCLM-XR), a theoretical framework combining Cognitive Load Theory with the Learning Progress Hypothesis to explain how XR technologies influence learning through the joint regulation of cognitive demands and curiosity-driven motivational processes.A total of 282 medical students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a traditional video-based lesson, an AR-guided drawing activity, or an interactive VR task. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, results showed that both AR and VR significantly reduced extraneous cognitive load, while VR additionally reduced intrinsic cognitive load. Extraneous load negatively predicted both perceived learning progress and autonomy, which in turn positively predicted intrinsic motivation, revealing extraneous load as the primary cognitive mechanism through which instructional design shapes curiosity-driven engagement. Instead, extraneous load associated with lower perceived learning progress and autonomy, which in turn predicted intrinsic motivation, revealing a key mediating pathway.These findings advance a unified theoretical perspective on XR-based learning by demonstrating that the motivational benefits of immersive technologies are not a direct product of novelty or immersion, but emerge from their capacity to reduce unnecessary cognitive demands, thereby creating the conditions under which learners can perceive progress, exercise autonomous engagement, and sustain intrinsic motivation. Implications for the design of cognitively and motivationally optimized XR learning environments are discussed.