Go to the following link (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101727048) and listen or read the story on doodling. Given this new view on the relationship among the brain, boredom, and doodling, comment on how teachers should react to students doodling in class. Also look at the video and comment on whether doodles actually have meaning as Freud would suggest.
Have fun!!
If you want extra credit, post a response by Monday, March 23.
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Nathan Doucette
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to the video, I think I understand how it works. When you are bored your brain starts working harder to gather information since you are not getting information from the outside world. Your brain does this because it wants you to stay alert if something happens. But what doodling does is it gives your mind something to do so that it isnt thinking so hard. And as the tape said, you retain I think it said around 29% more information when doodling then you do from paying attention sometimes. Like the example they made where the people listening to the message remembered less then the ones that were doodling. After watching the video, I was amazed with all of the doodles they showed. There was around like 50 of them and they were all so neat, organized, and perfectly colored in. So if a teacher catches a student doodling, there is no reason to get upset with them unless you are having an interactive discussion and they arent responding. Im not sure if doodles actually have meaning as what Freud says. Because from what that person drew, it really doesnt look like it means anything, just neat shapes. Ive seen people doodle and usually they just draw a border around their paper or whatever, but again im not sure that they have actual meaning, they just doodle to give the brain something to do.
After reading the article, it seems like doodling is a very positive thing to do when you are bored doing something. It helps the brain let in and retain more information as opposed to not getting any information at all when daydreaming. I do both of those things during school and I must say that sometimes after I have been doodling in my math class, I actually know what I am supposed to be doing even though I have not been paying attention. It makes sense that daydreaming doesn't help because while you are doing it, you and your brain are completely fixated on whatever dream your having at that point. I don't agree that whatever a person doodles has to mean something. It seems like the newspapers and all the other people who got "Tony Blair's" doodles just used them as sort of a way to criticize the way Tony Blair was running the country.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought that doodling was a big deal, because I thought I payed attention in class at the same time, but I guess I was really day dreaming about something else. According to the articles, when you doodle, you are using a ton of brain energy that would distract you from what is going on in the classroom setting. Your mind is concentrated on other things and is in its own little world, so you really aren't multitasking like I originally thought. I guess doodling gives teachers a reason to get upset, if they knew the true meaning of doodling, because our brains are using up all our energy for the pictures and we are not taking in what is going on in the class. Doodling should be acceptable if you are drawing pictures of things that are relevant to the topic being discussed in class.
ReplyDeletePS. I don't doodle in your class.
After reading the article I found it very interesting that when doodling you actually using a lot of brain power. Also the fact that they pointed out that people like Bill Gates, Ronald Regan, and Lyndon Johnson were people that doodled was very interesting to me. They did a test where everyone would listen to a message and some were doodling and the others weren’t and I was shocked to find that the doodlers remembered 29 % more of the information when asked a series of questions on it. Compared to daydreaming that makes sense because you are thinking about something completely different and not hearing at all that’s going on in the meeting. Also when I went to that side story I was amazed by amount of doodles the woman did. Also the shapes, colors, patters, and everything else was amazing. I couldn’t believe how much she had done and still did a good job at her work. That goes to show doodling is not something that affects you but actually keeps you focused.
ReplyDeleteUpon listening to this article, I find it extremely intriguing. I myself am not a doodler so I never knew what it was like to doodle but I always figured that doodling meant you weren’t paying attention to what was going on around you. At first I didn’t believe what they said about how doodling made you more aware of what was going on and made you able to retain more information. I suppose it makes some sense though because when you are in a situation that would induce boredom, your brain can’t just shut off but instead it increases your brain activity to keep your body and mind stimulated. During this state of boredom people who doodle are drawing things that may seem useless but perhaps could be very meaningful since your unconscious mind is thinking about what to put into that drawing without you recognizing it. During this state, your conscious mind is actually retaining most of the information that’s happening around you because your mind is very aroused all together. I found the results of that study very interesting where people who doodled during the phone message recalled 29% more information than the people who tried to pay attention to it. I think this may go to show that teachers shouldn’t be so fussy about doodlers. It may seem like it’s meaningless and that they aren’t paying attention but perhaps they are remembering even more that way than if they were sitting there trying to concentrate. I know that when I try to set and concentrate, I tend to daydream about useless things and I won’t remember anything. I’m not a doodler so I can’t say if it really does help with retaining information. But again, I think teachers should allow the student to doodle because even if they aren’t retaining information, it’s their fault and problem I suppose. As far as what Freud says about doodles, I think he could very well be true. Since our minds are so active in the physical state of boredom, we are unconsciously thinking quite a bit which is what makes our conscious mind daydream and think about random things. The unconscious thoughts are making their way onto the notebook page in this manner. I think we should look into this a bit more because doodles could have quite a bit of meaning!
ReplyDeleteLauren Doucette
ReplyDeleteI found this article really interesting. I never realized how much energy you used while being bored. I was shocked to find out that by doodling during a lecture it is much more effective then daydreaming. You are actually absorbing the information. I thought that by both doodling and daydreaming you would be not paying attention. After studies however, it is proven that doodling actually helps people pay attention to boring lectures. I think that because of this study more teachers should allow students to doodle in class. In the end it could actually result in better test scores. Even though teachers may think students are not paying attention, students that are doodling may actually be absorbing the information better than those who appear to be paying attention. I also, think that the doodles have a meaning like Freud would suggest. I think this because in the article when the discussed Bill Gate’s doodles they found a meaning within them. I think that there is an unconscious reason for everyone’s doodles. According to article, “The function of doodling, according to Andrade, who recently published a study on doodling in Applied Cognitive Psychology, is to provide just enough cognitive stimulation during an otherwise boring task to prevent the mind from taking the more radical step of totally opting out of the situation and running off into a fantasy world.” I find this very intriguing and makes me want to doodle more in class.
i love to doodle. : )
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what Jon Audette said. Hes amazing. I agree with how he said that if you doodle, it doesnt mean that your not paying attention. You will probably learn more if you doodle and learn. It would work just like if your listening to Classical music while taking a test.
ReplyDeletek bye!
<3 George No Name
joh tangherlini
ReplyDeleteso after listening to that interesting voice recording i have learned that doodeling is so much better than actually dozing off into space. people who doodle retain around 29% more info than people who dont. your brain is still active when bored actually its more active then when not bored. but when your bored you brain is looking for something exciting to happen so thats why its stays active. soo doodleing is not a bad thing so when a teaching is going over hw or something and they yell at you for not paying attention just say i am retaining more info than jimmy over there so leave me alone
Doodling just gives you something to do when you are bored and it keeps your mind going and working and alert. You doodle usually so you don’t fall asleep in class. And even though you are doodling and are not really listening, you obtain more information sometimes. Its just like when you are sleeping and the music is on, you wake up and some how you know the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI love doodling but not in yips class.
Richard Votta