Writing on paper better for memory than writing on a screen

[Guest realmayo]

I saw this and thought of writing out characters - maybe it's time to start writing out words too...... 
 

Quote

 

Researchers from Japan asked 48 students to take down the details of a person's schedule using either pen and paper, a tablet or a smartphone.

 

They found that those who wrote the information in a notebook were able to record all the details faster than those who used an electronic device.

 

Recalling the details in a brain scanner later, those who took written notes exhibited more activity in regions of their brain related to memory, language and navigation.

 

According to the team, writing with paper involves unique, complex spatial and tactile information that provides the brain with more information to trigger memory.

 

 

When it comes to remembering characters or vocabulary, it does seem that the more parts of your brain light up when you do the learning, the more likely you are to remember.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9377397/Neuroscience-Writing-PAPER-leads-brain-activity-recalling-content-hour-later.html

[Shelley]

I have always believed this to be true. Muscle memory is the key.

 

I have only found one electronic method to help and that is Skritter, I use it on my tablet and the size of the character is quite big and using a stylus mimics a pen and I have found almost every character I studied using Skritter has the highest retention of all. I also write on paper a lot not just single characters but copy out paragraphs from lessons to help with comprehension, how grammar works and just the general flow of text.
I have just decided to re subscribe to Skritter as my hiatus from serious study has been going on too long, my medical problems have been mostly resolve and life is now back on an even keel.

[abcdefg]

I always do better with paper and pen. Get more mileage out of it. 

[Tomsima]

I feel like theres some connection with spatial memory in there too - when im writing things out with my hand, part of the muscle memory building seems to be a process of building some 'shape' that my brain associates with the memory. When things are on a screen my brain doesn't seem to access them in quite the same way, as if they are only two dimensional, not being 'written' into a three dimensional space by my hand. I've found the same with all the Zoom meetings and classes over the last few months - I saw some of my students in person today for the first time in about 6 months. My first thought was 'wow, you're all so 3D'