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Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#51

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

For me, it depends on whether I'm listening to a fiction or non-fiction book (also, the ability of the narrator to draw me in is key). I was completely immersed in the audio version of the Three Body Problem and wager that I could recall it better than if I had read it.

As for non-fiction, the last book I tried to listen to is Behave by Robert Sapolsky. Although the narration is good, I simply cannot retain the names of the various brain structures and their function. After listening to a chapter for the 3rd time, I just gave up and decided to purchase the text version.

If someone is painting a picture for me, so to speak, as in narrative fiction, I feel it makes a stronger impression than actually reading the material. But if I'm trying to learn something, I frequently need to pause what I'm taking in, usually to build a mental model.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#52

Post by michaericalribo »

nickjj wrote: post #32

A lot of people are saying audio books have less retention (which may be true), but are you accounting for what you're doing while listening to them? For example, if you read a book, chances are you're 100% focused on the book, probably sitting or laying down in a quiet room. On the other hand while listening to an audio book you might be driving, running errands or cleaning. Most of that is probably on auto-pilot bu…

Nice point about distractions. We also have a LOT more practice learning and retaining by reading than we do by listening.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#53

Post by sadiqyanju »

15 percent for physical books i.e I have to read it 5 times to pass a an undergraduate level exam with an A grade, 20 percent for audio about four times spaced repetition for the A grade and 25 percent for video. I passed PMI-PMP just watching videos on my first attempt.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#54

Post by lordkrandel »

I think you need better questions instead of a direct answer and here were my 2 cents. Funny how people here think about A/B testing before they actually try to put an hypotesis behind the fact. As an average guy, I'd say that remembering things you've just listened to is very harder, except for people who have non-standard memory qualities. In ancient Greece, Epic saga started to be written to ensure the story wouldn't change through time. There's not only memorization involved, but also understanding and the ability to refer to someone else what you've learned. Have you ever tried as a child that game in which you have to pass a message through a number of mates by whispering it in their ear? It's disastrous and you don't even have to memorize it. Hammurabi has started writing laws for the same need of reference. And yet? In ancient times nothing was written, and people had to learn long codes and rhymes by heart and were requested to remember that for a lifetime. And it was easier: they exercised the skill a lot. Their attention span was linear, more focused, more trained. Did you actually learn logarithmic tables by heart? State capitals? We live in times that don't really promote retention in favour of linking concepts and knowing where to search the written information at speed, just because the lack of exercise has taken away our trust in our own memory. So I don't really think that the medium is important, it's the fit. Do you want a soothing voice telling you the beauty of an imaginary landscape? Or to give voice to a particular character from a book which matters to you? Or are you reading a technical reference book? Are you studying for repetition? Does voiced emphasis give you a stronger hook on sentences? Are you reading or listening to a book about public speaking? I remember prayers from my catholic days which I learned by heart in church without even reading them once - because I remember the rhythm and that kind of song they used to make you better memorize it. Still reminds me of Homer and ancient Greek times. What do you think?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#55

Post by rushi_agrawal »

I'm continuously listening to audiobooks while commuting since last couple of years or so. To increase retention, I've done a few things which have helped (I don't have enough time to go through the physical book or ebook though I tried it a few times, so can't comment on comparison there):

1. Driving slowly, so as to still have safety as the most important priority, and so that you miss lesser moments when you have to take your mind away from listening and to the things happening on the road (talking about Bangalore's i.e. India's traffic here). The slight gain in commute time (I think it should be around 10% and definitely not more than 20%) is completely worth it. This actually made my driving safer in general too.

2. I have a 'repeat last 30 seconds' functionality at my fingertips. You'll invariably miss a portion after which (sometimes) the story will stop making sense. The attitude which worked for me here is, it's okay to spend a lot more time to re-listen a part multiple times, than to let laziness take over by thinking it's anyway an unimportant portion and okay to miss.

3. Take out 5-10 minutes after a commute is done, to write notes about what I thought are important learnings and should not be forgotten with time. I believe if the goal is to not let the commute time go waste, then this notes-writing time is also a part of it, without which your learning is incomplete. This is way better than only remembering something like 4. Forcing myself to re-listen books which I found too useful to let my mind forget in any way, instead of jumping over to that next interesting book. I read mostly non-fiction books of a specific category (scientific-study-oriented books about humans, their interactions, behaviour and their flaws). Forcing re-learning is partly due to the fact that after a time I thought I'm reading less important books (i.e. I'm running out of extremely good books in this area), and partly due to forgetting to transfer that new book to my phone to listen.

5. I've lately realized that cramming all your free time to reading/learning is not helpful too. You should have a reasonable time to 'ruminate' in the day, each day, i.e. time when you're doing nothing (social network, news, sports, or any screen-time in general, doesn't count)

Feel free to ask questions. Also, feel free to provide suggestions and book recommendations. I'm all ears :)

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#56

Post by rushi_agrawal »

unbearded wrote: post #40

I'm not aware of any study, but having listened to over a hundred audiobooks on the last few years, I would like to share my experience while listing to non-fiction. My experience is that retention depends mainly on two factors: the amount of attention and quality of the reader. I prefer when the author is the one reading because many of them add comments and a special "energy" to the book. I find the "car mode" on A…

I've had an instance where the author was reading his book himself, and his accent was so difficult that only then I started to realize the effort professional readers must have put into to make the book listenable. Had to read that book at .9X to be able to follow it.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#58

Post by nickjj »

michaericalribo wrote: post #52
nickjj wrote: post #32

A lot of people are saying audio books have less retention (which may be true), but are you accounting for what you're doing while listening to them? For example, if you read a book, chances are you're 100% focused on the book, probably sitting or laying down in a quiet room. On the other hand while listening to an audio book you might be driving, running errands or cleaning. Most of that is probably on auto-pilot bu…

Nice point about distractions. We also have a LOT more practice learning and retaining by reading than we do by listening.

I'm not so sure about that.

Maybe it's different outside of the US but in the US, most of the time you have a teacher talking to a bunch of students with a blackboard. This goes from about age 6 to 18.

Learning is very much audio driven, and text books were used as supplements (and for homework).

Re: Ask HN: Are there any studies about book reading retention rates vs. audiobooks?

#60

Post by MartynX »

bosie wrote: post #16
MartynX wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audible has this feature, works exactly as you describe it.

When did they add the sync feature? I asked the audible support about sync two months ago and they said that the notes are only stored on the device you are using. Indeed i couldn't see it anywhere else and when i switched phones the notes wouldn't sync to the new audible installation.

It must have been recently then, I've just looked at my notes in the web player that I had added in the Android app. If you still happen to have your old phone, you may be able to sync them now.
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