Key Ideas
- Typing vs. writing in lectures: when writing, you are absorbing the information much more deeply when listening to a lecture. When typing, it is more likely for you to transcribe what is being said rather than understand.
- This depends on the goal of note-taking: Is someone recording what is said to study from later (in which typing would be more beneficial) or are they trying to understand the lecture?
Case study
Umejima et al. (2011)
Aim
Does technology affect memory?
Method
- Asked students to note down two conversations between two people with many details about scheduled meetings. One conversation was personal and the other was academic.
- One group was asked to write down any notes, the other typed them up.
- Afterwards, they were administered an fMRI scan while asked to recall information from the conversations.
Results
- The writing group had a greater activation of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
- The writing group had better memory overall.
Link to Concepts
- Perspective: Technology has both benefits and drawbacks for our cognition, therefore your opinion on it is largely due to perspective.
- Change: The world is ever-changing and even more so with the development technology, and we must adapt with it, even if it changes our behaviour.
