"Doodling" Copyright by Sharon McEachern
"Pay Attention!"
The boss, the teacher, the spouse -- all should take heed. When you're talking and your employee, student or significant other is doodling don't assume that they aren't paying attention. Science says they are. In fact, those who doodle instead of looking into your baby blues will actually remember your words better. That's the good news.
The bad news is that when your "audience" is doodling it may indicate that your presentation is B-O-R-I-N-G and they are desperately attempting to listen to your message, even though it may appear otherwise.
DOODLE GOOD FOR NOODLE
We all know that doodling is frowned upon in meetings and classrooms, but why does it help you remember details in a really boring presentation? As Live Science writes "the back-of-the-envelope" speculation is that doodlers don't daydream as much.
British researchers tested forty subjects, members of the research panel of the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. They had to listen to a 2.5 minute long dull phone message which contained names of people and places. The results were significant -- the half who were asked to doodle during the message had 29 percent better recall than the non-doodlers, reported in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.
"This study suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist doing," said psychology professor Jackie Andrade, University of Plymouth.
DAYDREAMING GOES OUT THE WINDOW
As emphasized by CNN's report,it's generally thought scribbling indicates daydreaming. Yet doodling may actually decrease those wandering thoughts and help focus the mind. The reason isn't know; but, the study results definitely show doodling aids concentration.
Listen up all teachers and staff meeting facilitators! Tuck in your egos and recall those on-a-cocktail-napkin ideas. If you really want your students to learn and retain your teachings or your staff to stay mentally alert during those horribly boring staff meetings, don't just allow doodling. Hand out doodling supplies...the longer the meeting, the more supplies!
NOW THAT YOU KNOW -- it would be unethical for you not to follow the science since you would be preventing all of that extra 29 percent memory retention.
TO READ "NATURE RESTORES THE MIND: JUST A WALK IN THE PARK" CLICK HERE.
TO READ "CHEW ON THIS WRIGLEY: RESEARCH CLAIMS GUM MAKES TEENS SMARTER" CLICK HERE.
TO READ "MATH IS GETTING EASIER AND EASIER: ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS EITHER CHEW GUM AND/OR DRINK CHOCOLATE MAIK AND YOU'LL GET SMARTER" CLICK HERE.
By Sharon McEachern
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