Researchers believe that the way of typing with a keyboard is just to type verbatim scripts, while handwritten notes can allow information to enter the brain for organization and re-production, and the learning and memory effects are better than typing methods.
Seattle, WA (Merxwire) – With the advancement of science and technology, computer typing becomes faster and faster, and it has become a good helper for everyone to take notes. But did you know that research has found that the effect of handwritten notes is better than typed notes? Experts say that writing is more helpful for memory.
According to a research report published in Psychological Science by Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles, it was found that writing by hand can make people concentrate and improve learning effects. Because through the handwriting process, the hand-brain complex builds a neural circuit of memory and meaning in the brain, which becomes the key to memory and understanding.
Researchers also found that the output of typing notes is equivalent to a verbatim manuscript, because it is fast and can directly convert the moment the message is received into text and record it in the computer, but relatively speaking, it lacks brain reorganization and retelling. The cognitive process of summarizing or replacing vocabulary cannot form long-term effective memory.
Another problem with typing notes is that there are too many messages and content on mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, which can easily be distracting. According to reports, Americans check their phone 96 times, almost every 10 minutes, and 18-24 year-olds check up to 82 times on average. In total, people check their phones more than 9 billion times a day. While we use technology products to take notes, it is difficult for us to refrain from using FB, IG, TikTok, or replying to Line messages.
Kenneth Kiewra, an educational psychologist from New York, said: “Handwritten notes are better for mastering your thoughts than typing.” Handwritten notes are a dynamic process of the brain that converts hearing information into your memory. Better than typing. Studies have also shown that although handwritten notes are more time-consuming, they are more useful in the long run.
To put it simply, the most important function of a note is to keep a record, but the record must be converted into the text after a few procedures in the brain. Compared with simply recording words, handwritten notes are to actively organize and structure the meaning of these words, and then turn them into a part of their cognition, and sometimes even extend their thinking. Although typing is faster and more efficient than handwriting, and more content is recorded, over a long period, people who write by hand can remember more content than people who type.
In the era of digital technology, efficiency and value are no longer proportional. The well-known management master Peter. Peter Ferdinand Drucker once said: “The most ineffective thing is to accomplish meaningless things most efficiently.” Perhaps we should pick up the pen and paper we haven’t touched for a long time and rethink the value of handwritten notes.