Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain

[Sean Hayden]

People are losing the brain benefits of writing by hand as the practice becomes less common

The fact that handwriting is a slower process than typing may be another perk, at least in some contexts. A 2014 study in the journal Psychological Science found that students who took notes in longhand tested higher on measures of learning and comprehension than students who took notes on laptops.

“The primary advantage of longhand notes was that it slowed people down,” says Daniel Oppenheimer, co-author of the study and a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. While the students who typed could take down what they heard word for word, “people who took longhand notes could not write fast enough to take verbatim notes — instead they were forced to rephrase the content in their own words,” Oppenheimer says. “To do that, people had to think deeply about the material and actually understand the arguments. This helped them learn the material better.”

https://elemental.medium.com/bring-back ... 22fe6c81d2

However other studies have shown that it is also what you do with your notes after you take them that counts. In those studies it was found that people who typed --or tried to-- type everything they heard recalled more information than those who summarized from what they heard. This was of course only if both had read their notes later. I believe it was the case that if you didn't look at your notes again then you were better off summarizing in your own words.

Another interesting question is whether or not the real benefit simply comes from translating from hearing to writing regardless of method.

[JimC]

Young people these days...

[laklak]

Mrs. Lak is an OT and has been saying this for years. Kids don't get enough gross motor stimulation because they don't play outside like we did, and no fine motor because they don't learn cursive or do arts and crafts. It's important stuff for their developing brains.

[pErvinalia]

Might explain why I've got stupider the older I've got.

[laklak]

A good wank develops both gross and fine motor skills. I'm a fucking Einstein, I am.