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Museum of Modern Calligraphy via Wikimedia Commons

Taking notes by hand is more effective than typing them

Note-taking by hand forces you to think about what you’re writing.

PEOPLE TEND TO type faster than they can write notes by hand. Strangely, this is why you should trade your laptop for a pen and pad if you want to remember what someone is saying.

A new study published in Psychological Science shows why. Pam Mueller of Princeton and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA asked two groups of students to take notes while watching TED Talks. Some were given laptops, others a pen and paper. They watched the talks, and then, about half an hour later, they were quizzed on the content.

“For strictly factual questions, the note-taking method didn’t seem to matter,” American Scholar reports. ”But for more conceptual questions — ‘How do Japan and Sweden differ in their approaches to equality within their societies?’ — the typists remembered fewer correct responses than the scribblers.”

A follow-up experiment confirmed the findings. A full week after watching the videos, students were quizzed on the content. Again, the hand-writers outperformed the typists in recall tests.

Why?

When you’re typing everything down quickly, you end up spending less time with each piece of information. If you’re writing everything that the speaker says, then you don’t actually have to think about what they’re saying. But if you’re only writing selections of their speech, you have to attend to the most important points and get those down on paper.

Since the handwriting slows you down, you spend more time thinking carefully about what the speaker is saying, which leads to better recall of the information.

Another Princeton study came to a similar conclusion. It found that hard-to-read fonts (your Comic Sans, Gothic, and the like) actually lead to greater retention. When the text is more difficult to read, the authors argue, you’re subsequently forced to spend more time with each piece of information.

The business takeaway: When you’re viewing a presentation, attending a meeting, or talking to a potential hire, keep your pen in hand — and only write down the most important points.

- Drake Baer

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Dec 10th 2022, 11:58 AM

    Brrrrrrr…….. One word. LAYERS!!!

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    Mute Mike Finnegan
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    Dec 10th 2022, 12:59 PM

    @Anna Carr: yeah, it’s tough weather for the poor hens…….

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    Mute Geoff Bateman
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    Dec 10th 2022, 2:19 PM

    @Mike Finnegan: and the Bookmakers

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    Mute Declan Moran
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    Dec 10th 2022, 5:15 PM

    @Anna Carr: birrrrrrrr is here in Offaly ;)

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    Mute David Devane
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    Dec 10th 2022, 2:52 PM

    Did that say Yellow snow warning…

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    Mute Sean O Cathasaigh
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    Dec 10th 2022, 3:28 PM

    My kids have no idea who hacksaw jimmy duggan, brutus the barber beefcake or macho man randy savage are. what the hell are they teaching them in school these days?

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    Mute Peter McCabe
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    Dec 10th 2022, 3:30 PM

    @Sean O Cathasaigh: Christmas Carols

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    Mute Maurice Glennon
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    Dec 10th 2022, 10:37 PM

    @Sean O Cathasaigh: teachers these days just stick on Youtube or Netflix for the kids & put their feet up.

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 10th 2022, 9:20 PM

    What rotten weather for anyone homeless or can’t afford heating, our natural resources need to be brought back to public ownership, this greed is out of control & privatisation needs to be stopped now, these people’s greed is causing so much misery & their just plowing ahead with nobody controlling it all.

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    Mute Irish Cottage Rental
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    Dec 10th 2022, 3:33 PM

    Falling as “rain or sleep” – yes please !

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    Mute Aidan Conway
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    Dec 10th 2022, 2:58 PM

    Dont eat the yellow snow! Tgats my warning!

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    Mute James Johnson
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    Dec 10th 2022, 5:11 PM

    Hopefully the Munster v Toulouse game tomorrow won’t be affected, Rumours abound here in limerick.
    Child of Prague is out

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    Mute Gina Robinson
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    Dec 10th 2022, 6:33 PM

    Delighted to see we will have sleep

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    Mute Madra
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    Dec 10th 2022, 3:59 PM

    Typo in the article. It’s sleet not sleep.

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    Mute Daftbit Jelly
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    Dec 10th 2022, 10:45 PM

    @Madra: On your bike pedant.

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    Mute Dougz
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    Dec 10th 2022, 5:47 PM

    Orange warning sounds warmer than yellow warning! Get in! Toasty

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    Mute Frank Carty
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    Dec 10th 2022, 5:47 PM

    The map shows temps as 0 and -0

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    Mute Daftbit Jelly
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    Dec 10th 2022, 10:10 PM

    I’m bored with the weather stuff. Can’t we have more articles about racists taking over East Wall protests or some stuff ridiculing Enoch whatshisname.

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    Mute Jack Creegan
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    Dec 10th 2022, 10:27 PM

    I,m really enjoying this global warming. Can’t wait for net zero 2050.

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    Mute Daftbit Jelly
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    Dec 10th 2022, 10:44 PM

    It’s cold it’s winter. I think I have it in me to to be a columnist but feel I would have to avoid being succinct.

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