To Doodle or Not to Doodle

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Do the margins of your note pages look like a kindergartener with a new pack of crayons? If so, you’re on the right track to absorbing more information than if you were simply staring at your teacher’s powerpoint, drool making its way towards your chin. According to TIME Magazine, a study conducted by the University of Plymouth, by psychologist Jackie Andrade, has proven that doodlers absorb far more information during a meeting or lecture than non-doodlers. To conduct such an experiment, Andrade took a group of forty people, asking twenty of them to shade in small boxes while listening to a dull recording, while the other twenty were not asked to do anything but listen. Afterwards, the forty participants were tested on what the recording was about. Overall, those that were asked to doodle remembered nearly 30% more than those that were not asked to doodle.
            Sunni Brown, author of The Doodle Revolution, claims that there are specific ways to doodle that can improve memory and focus. The first method is what she calls “atomization”. This means to break a component down into its smallest parts. For example, if you choose the word “mouse”, you can spend some time breaking it down into its components ‒ cheese, scared housewives climbing onto chairs, and maybe even a hungry cat. Next, she suggests “game-storming”, the combination of two separate components. First, you choose two objects ‒ let’s just say a cat and an ice cream cone ‒ and you fuse them. In this case, you could draw cats with melting whiskers or ice cream cone with cat ears and noses. This is an excellent approach to doodling, because the combinations are endless. Finally, Brown suggests a doodling technique that she calls “process mapping”. This is when you untangle a problem by drawing its sequence of events. For instance, if you can’t figure out how a lightbulb works, you can draw the sequence of events that you think might lead to the electricity ending up in the light bulb. Even if it is not accurate, it can be a creative activity that will help you focus.
            So with all this in mind, I implore you to doodle all over your margins, in between your bullet points, and in your headings! Not only will it offer a break from steadfast note-taking, but it will improve your memory of the content you are learning and help you tune in to the lesson! Next time you’re sitting in history and your teacher’s voice starts to fade in and out, your eyes begin to droop, and your head starts falling back onto your chair, try doodling!

Sydnee Appel, CSU Fresno Student, Fresno City College WRC Tutor

Miller, Jennifer. “Here's Why, How, And What You Should Doodle To Boost Your Memory And Creativity.” Fast Company, 26 Aug. 2014, www.fastcompany.com/3034356/heres-why-how-and-what-you-should-doodle-to-boost-your-memory-and-creativity.

Cloud, John. “Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention.” Time, Time Inc., 26 Feb. 2009, content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1882127,00.html.



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