Princeton, USA/Trondheim, Norway. Typing a text on a laptop, smartphone, or tablet is quick and convenient. However, two studies published in 2014 and 2024 show that writing by hand is better for our cognitive abilities.
The first study was conducted by psychology professor Daniel Oppenheimer and psychology Ph.D. candidate Pam Mueller at Princeton University in the United States. They had 327 students take notes during a recorded lecture. Half of them took notes on paper, while the other half typed their notes on a laptop. Afterwards, all participants were tested on what they had understood from the recording.
The result was clear: The students who had taken notes by hand demonstrated a significantly more complex understanding of the material. Oppenheimer and Mueller concluded that while the students who took notes by hand were slower at writing, this forced them to listen more attentively, decide what was important from the lecture, and then put it down on paper in their own words.
The second study, conducted by Audrey van der Meer, brain researcher and professor of neuropsychology, and Ruud van der Weel, professor of cognitive psychology, at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, examined the differences between handwriting and typing at the level of brain activity. Van der Meer and van der Weel fitted 36 students with an EEG cap that recorded the electrical activity in their brains during the experiment. The participants watched different words appear one after another on a screen and wrote them down—either by hand or on a keyboard.
The EEG recordings showed that the various brain regions responsible for memory, sensory processing, and the integration of new information were active simultaneously and in a coordinated pattern while writing by hand. When typing on a keyboard, however, almost nothing happened in the brain. Van der Meer and van der Weel attributed this to the coordination between hand, eye, and brain necessary for handwriting. Each individual letter requires a different micro-movement of the hand, which is co-controlled by the eye and brain. When typing on a keyboard or touchscreen, however, only repetitive keystrokes are necessary.
The scientists’ conclusion: Writing by hand significantly stimulates the brain, which is particularly important for learning processes. This is yet another reason to turn off all devices from time to time—especially in educational settings.
Sources Psychological Science Journal and Frontiers in Psychology Journal
Translation Paula Boslau
Image Eleni Koureas
