२३ ऑक्टोबर, २०१०

"So if something is hard to see or hear, it feels disfluent... We'd found that disfluency led people to think harder about things."

That's a generalization from a study in which readers were better at remembering information written in a difficult-to-read font.

१९ टिप्पण्या:

Chase म्हणाले...

Your sentence reads:

That's a generalization from a study in which readers were better at remember information written in a difficult-to-read font.

Was that on purpose, so that we would remember it better?

coketown म्हणाले...

That must explain why, in the freshman English classes I taught, students routinely submitted exams with the most abominable handwriting known to man. They wanted me to remember their insights forever.

Oh, and good news. It was pizza for two tonight.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

@Chase LOL. And: corrected.

Wince म्हणाले...

Might explain why kids with poor eyesight have been stereotyped as more studious?

Also, a kidle-like device could control the rate at which words are presented for reading, obviating the need to make the font more difficult to see in order to derive the benefit.

Wince म्हणाले...

Kindle-like.

Unknown म्हणाले...

Maybe the harder you have to work for it, the more it sticks with you. Or, as my father observed after I banged my head against the doorjamb (accidentally) as I gave the answer to 3x6, if you hurt yourself, you never forget.

Disfluent??? Why do I have the feeling this is why Ivy League educations aren't worth as much anymore?

अनामित म्हणाले...

The challenge: Bodoni MT font

"I" don't get it. Brush Script, bold italics, yes - but "Bodoni MT font," no.

Clyde म्हणाले...

I guess it might kinda work. BBC's site had the author's name in some funky greyscale, and I ain't forgettin' Cordelia Hebblethwaite for as long as I live!

wv: charr. My eyes, they burn!

Clyde म्हणाले...

And by the way, did they kick all of the British with the weird names off the boat before they came over here, or did they change to the weird names after the Pilgrims left? Just wondering...

David म्हणाले...

Thus Harry Reid.

Clyde म्हणाले...

Or were they more likely to be Tories and sent packing off to Canada? A great historical question here.

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

It could help to make french movie subtitles harder to read?

Interesting.

Palladian म्हणाले...

This explains why I remember Chaucer better from reading him in Caxton's edition.

Jason (the commenter) म्हणाले...

EDH: Also, a kidle-like device could control the rate at which words are presented for reading, obviating the need to make the font more difficult to see in order to derive the benefit.

But ebook readers, like the Kindle, will probably never do this. They'll try to be easier to read than books, and hence what you read in them will always be less memorable.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

This is just common sense, isn't it? If something is easy to read, you read it easily. If something is hard to read, you slow down and concentrate.

Was federal money involved in this study?

campy म्हणाले...

I participate in an online forum where several posters change from the default font to something cutesy. I scroll on by their messages without reading.

Just as I do here when I see a troll's name.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

An old trick was stuttering or fumbling over words to get an audience to listen harder to figure out the speakers thoughts like working a crossword puzzle. But I doubt that works unless a captive audience MUST get the information for some reason. Today we want to get in and get out fast.

Lucien म्हणाले...

This explains why the District Court requires briefs in 14 point fonts or larger: the judges want to forget what lawyers write as quickly as possible.

Wince म्हणाले...

But ebook readers, like the Kindle, will probably never do this.

I was thinking schools could distribute pre-set devices to students.

Plus, Evelyn Wood must be turning in her grave.