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Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

scientificamerican.com

131–132 of 132 posts

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

#131
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…

I've wondered whether this is connected to the olfactory system. Real books have a discernible smell about them, especially older books, and smell is said to be one of the best senses for memory recall. Do you remember less from an ebook because your ebook isn't smelly?

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

#132
post #94
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My own personal and completely based on anecdote opinion on note taking is that I can write notes while paying attention to something else, but typing has a much higher cognitive load, so more of my attention is focused on operating a keyboard vs. listening. I'm also someone that needs good visual organization to really study and learn things, so a habit I built in college was to write all of my notes, and then later…

Maybe it's because I have terrible and slow handwriting, or because I had a job transcribing audio interviews as a teenager, but I find it's the complete opposite for me. Writing makes me miss more because I can't keep up.

Everyone's brain works differently. My mom worked at the county court and her side gig was creating transcripts of the court case. It was always amazing to see her fingers fly as she sat with headphones and a glazed look as the words seemed to flow directly from ears to paper.
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