Doodling is something that I have done throughout my life. Typically, I doodled while I listened to lectures in school or while I talked on the phone. According to HealthDay, researchers in the UK found that doodlers had recalled information better than those who did not. It was refreshing to hear this information because my instructors always frowned on me for doodling. I remember a teacher in high school calling my parents because I was unable to pay attention during class because I was more focused on my drawings. My parents punished me because of this; however, my grades were always “A”’s. I continued doodling regardless of what they said.
How many of you doodle while listening to a dry instructor cover a new topic? The reason why it is now considered better to doodle is because if you focus on a bland lecture or conversation naturally your mind starts to wonder. The wondering of the mind is called daydreaming. Daydreaming is more distracting because if breaks your focus on the task at hand. Daydreaming is a more complex task. Doodling is a simple task which helps to stop daydreaming which does not distract you from the main task at hand.
A two-and-a-half minute recording of people’s names and places were played for the participants. Only certain participants were asked to shade in shapes while the recording played, however, they were told not to pay attention to the neatness of their shadings. Once the recording concluded the participants were asked to name the eight places and names from the recording. “Those asked to doodle wrote down, on average, 7.5 names and places, while those who didn’t doodle listed only 5.8.” (Healthday, 2009)
While doodling is something that is currently not viewed as “socially acceptable” is a learning environment, maybe instructors will become more lenient in the practice of punishing students. I wish that I could have shown this article to my high school instructor and to my parents when I was punished unnecessarily. To those parents that choose to read this, I hope that you consider this if you ever experience this same situation with your children.
HealthDay. (2009). Take Note: Doodling Can Help Memory. Retrieved from MSN.com on February 27, 2009. http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/takenoteDoodling canhelpmemory.html
I love it!! I am a doodler myself - in fact I have had to find a replacement habit because my doodling has gotten me into trouble. I doodle when I am on the phone at work. In the beginning of a conversation I will write something down like a name, phone number or some other important thing, then if the conversation goes on a long time I will doodle over what I had written to the point that I cannot decipher what I had originally written! Because this has been a problem for me, I have a little toy called a tangle sitting next to my phone. If I feel the need to doodle I pick that up and wrap it around my fingers and play with it instead - I am glad to hear that this may cause better memory skills. If I do it again, I will trust my memory!!!
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