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Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#21

Post by al_borland »

opwieurposiu wrote: post #5

Anyone had success with improving a kid's handwriting? My son's writing is 2/10. I myself am only 3/10. With reading and math I am able to help him. I have not found anything effective for penmanship.

Slow down to do it well, then as the muscle memory improves, the speed can increase.

There are a lot of penmanship videos on YouTube. I fell down that hole one day. They talked about picking a font a training to write in that font. But the kid would have to find the idea of picking the font they will write in compelling enough to train it.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#22

Post by wildermuthn »

sowbug wrote: post #11

Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? This happens to me, and I think it's a similar explanation. I recall less of where I read something in an ebook. But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it. There's simply more of the brain working when I read a physical boo…

Maybe the article covers this, but there an ancient memory technique (still used today) of “places and things”, also known as a memory palace. You put objects into spaces in your mind, then walk through that imaginary space to remember things. Turns out that humans are much better at remembering things when the context is spatial. Makes sense that this would apply to reading physical books.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#23

Post by potsandpans »

sowbug wrote: post #11

Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? This happens to me, and I think it's a similar explanation. I recall less of where I read something in an ebook. But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it. There's simply more of the brain working when I read a physical boo…

The thing that bothers me is that I can't flip back and forth the same way I can with a book.

I'll frequently read something and want to go check something 100 or so pages back. It's so easy with a physical book you hold the place and scan backwards. Much more difficult with an ebook.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#24

Post by makeitdouble »

lupire wrote: post #17
makeitdouble wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that lack of spaciality bothers you, you could try reading ebooks on a bigger format. Using a 13" ipad or Surface, or another tablet/reader for instance allows to have two pages side by side (or one A4 full page) which is pretty close to the physical book format.

That's still only 2D, not 3D navigation

Was reacting to the "I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page" part. In particular for technical documentation, having a vague memory of how the page looked like and where in that page the information is IMHO tremendously useful to get back quickly to the relevant parts.

I personaly see less use of feeling the weight of the book or the physical artifacts (even for the position in the book, the ratio on the scroll bar is to me a good enough replacement).

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#25

Post by jpcfl »

potsandpans wrote: post #23
sowbug wrote: post #11

Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? This happens to me, and I think it's a similar explanation. I recall less of where I read something in an ebook. But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it. There's simply more of the brain working when I read a physical boo…

The thing that bothers me is that I can't flip back and forth the same way I can with a book. I'll frequently read something and want to go check something 100 or so pages back. It's so easy with a physical book you hold the place and scan backwards. Much more difficult with an ebook.

I also tend to remember where a tidbit of information was physically. For some reason, details like "~50 pages back around the end of the paragraph in the top-right corner of the right page" will stick in my brain. Then I can quickly scan and parse out keywords to find what I'm looking for. This doesn't work reliably with e-books for me.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#26

Post by zafka »

opwieurposiu wrote: post #5

Anyone had success with improving a kid's handwriting? My son's writing is 2/10. I myself am only 3/10. With reading and math I am able to help him. I have not found anything effective for penmanship.

I have always had horrible "Penmanship". When I was in 9th grade - the last year of my parochial school, my home room teacher made me retake second grad penmanship. It did not help much. I do think my poor writing style is connected to my ADHD symptoms. Anyhow, a few years back- here on HN people were discussing fountain pens as a way to improve writing. Hee, I now have a bunch of Lamy fountain pens. I think because I spent 70 dollars on a pen, I sometimes slow down a bit and write better. Even if it does not help your kid's writing ability, I think he will enjoy having a cool pen.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#27

Post by kstrauser »

sowbug wrote: post #11

Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? This happens to me, and I think it's a similar explanation. I recall less of where I read something in an ebook. But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it. There's simply more of the brain working when I read a physical boo…

If so, only a tad. OTOH, I read so much more on an ebook that I think it's still a win.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#28

Post by andrew-dc »

There is another important angle to all of this that I have discovered: I began writing/journaling several years ago by hand and have off and on kept up the habit. For me personally, the experience is enjoyable and therapeutic, given my day job is 100% on a computer. (I'm also an illustrator (focus on traditional, rather than digital) so I naturally nerd out on pens, paints, ink, paper, etc. Illustrating with analog tools also has a similar effect as writing.) I have found that I very easily enter flow state writing, for whatever reason.

More importantly, I recently felt inspired (HT to the late Humphrey Carpenter's excellent biography of Tolkien, who wrote to his kids a ton) not just to write for myself, but to write to my sons. This has given my writing even a greater purpose, as I want to give my thoughts (I'm not some profound thinker or such rubbish) and encouragement to my boys when I may not be around (not just in death, but even not near them). I want them to hear and remember the goofiness, and some of the things that went unsaid, or may have been missed, to apologize for my own failings, to really know how much I love and am proud of them. And I want them to not feel alone and discouraged in this world. That sort of stuff. I don't believer there would be anything wrong with typing things to them, however It feels like actually holding a thing that my dad held, and seeing his lines, scribbles, ramblings, bad spelling and stuff...but meant for me...would be really meaningful.

Re: Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

#29

Post by vladms »

lupire wrote: post #20
palata wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like there are types of memories specific to the sensory modality. My understanding was that this was a myth... what's important is to actively pay attention , which seems to be the point here: "It’s very tempting to type down everything that the lecturer is saying, [...] but you don’t process the incoming information. [...] But when taking notes by hand, it’s often impossible to write everything down; students hav…

Worrying about how to compress the data in real time doesn't seem like a good way to pay attention. Maybe jotting down reactions helps maintain attention. Actually paying attention, and writing down things you want to follow up on later so you don't have to hold them in memory seems better than both superficially stenographozing on a computer or trying to compress for handwritten notes. I suspect that writing helps b…

I think what could make the difference is the process of selection "what is important to me to compress".

If you know something already you can skip writing it.

If you heard an interesting idea you should write it in a way you would understand it the easiest later. For me, not all notes taken by people on exactly the same course were as understandable, because everybody did some "reinterpretation/selection" - which for me could be a proof of some intricate processing.

If you want to follow up later, well, I think that's a different use-case - not related to focusing on the topic (also important but in other circumstances)

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