Doodling could improve memory

Now there is a valid excuse for drawing in the margins of your notebook during class! A study from Plymouth University in England shows that doodling, though it may seem a distracting task during a dull speech or presentation, is much less distracting than daydreaming, and may actually improve memory recall. This study, published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, was headed by Professor Jackie Andrade, PhD, of the School of Psychology at Plymouth and involved 40 adult volunteers. Professor Andrade stated that: "tests of memory or attention will often use a second task to selectively block a particular mental process. If that process is important for the main cognitive task then performance will be impaired. My research shows that beneficial effects of secondary tasks, such as doodling, on concentration may offset the effects of selective blockade". During an experiment with, participants were asked to listen to an intentionally boring phone message and recall specific names of people mentioned in the message that were to attend a party. Half were given shapes to shade(without attention to detail) in while listening, and the other half were left to their own devices. After listening, participants were asked to recall names and places mentioned (they were not aware they should remember places); the doodling participants performed 29% better than the control group, recalling an average of 7.5 person/place details correctly, as opposed to the control group's average of 5.8. This suggests that doodling could help people remember pieces of important information presented, even if during a dull, mundane task. It may even be useful at keeping people alert better than letting their minds escape to such things as holidays and other common daydreaming topics. So, the next time you find yourself nodding off or daydreaming during an uninteresting task, go ahead and let yourself doodle on your paper, you might remember more than you expect!