Handwritten notes make you smarter

Do you write by hand or take notes on your smartphone? The second way is obviously more convenient. Record something in electronic form can be quickly and accurately. In addition, such a note is easy to send to other devices, send to your friends, print... But psychologists believe: we must return to the handwriting. After all, it makes us smarter and helps to learn.

We print quickly.

Writing - slowly.

Surprisingly, this is why you need to take notes by hand and do notes during their studies.

Psychologists Pam A. Muller (Pam A. Mueller) from Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer (Daniel M. Oppenheimer) from the University of California conducted a remarkable study, which revealed: a laptop - this is the worst tool for keeping notes, and notes during lectures.

Early studies suggest that to take notes on the laptop uncomfortable, because you can often get distracted - on games, Internet or third-party programs. But it turned out that the advantage of handwriting note-taking is another: when you write, you slow down the speed of perception of new information.

When the note-taking process is slow, you memorize more.

Here's how it works. If a person is able to quickly and efficiently printing, it will be able to record a lecture on hearing almost word for word. But shorthand - not to learn, this process does not require the analytical, critical thinking. While you are typing a word followed by a lecturer, the brain is not involved in the process of learning the material.

In other words, your brain does not receive the signal: "This information is very important." So as soon as you close your document, your mind will erase all heard for the continued effective operation.

But if you write an outline of the hand, you will not be able to physically write down everything the lecturer says.

Instead, you're looking for the most important emphases, organize information on the go. It is very difficult to write, and what you do not understand, and such places will become apparent white spots in your synopsis, which will need to come back to sort out new material.

Handwritten notes require the active work of the brain, which means you remember almost everything that will record. The more you try to understand something, the more signaliziruete brain: "This is important! I need this information! "

Muller and Oppenheimer concluded: instead engage in shorthand, the students have to process the information, telling her own words and writing in the form of notes. This is a critical need for learning.

The advantage of handwritten notes - even though they disappear from our daily lives - has been described by many psychologists. They say: when we write by hand, we will use those lobes of the brain, which are responsible for the formation of memories. Even children become more creative when writing down their ideas on paper.

French psychologist Deen Stanislas (Stanislas Dehaene) argues that we all need to move away from the keyboard, as an unique activates neural circuit in our brain.

Scientists did not know before about these processes, but is now confident that handwriting stimulates our mind and makes the learning process easier.