In this work, we explore video lec- ture interaction in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which is central to stu- dent learning experience on these educa- tional platforms. As a research contribu- tion, we operationalize video lecture click- streams of students into cognitively plau- sible higher level behaviors, and construct a quantitative information processing in- dex, which can aid instructors to better un- derstand MOOC hurdles and reason about unsatisfactory learning outcomes. Our re- sults illustrate how such a metric inspired by cognitive psychology can help answer critical questions regarding students’ en- gagement, their future click interactions and participation trajectories that lead to in-video & course dropouts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.