Re: [Phys-l] More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention #2

[brian whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

Hmmm...unfair? One of my earliest college class memories is the finiding 
that a tachistoscope can demonstrate that an image presented for a brief 
moment can be registered, unless the image invokes some social or 
personal barricade, in which case a MUCH longer presentation is needed 
for recognition.
   That did not seem obvious then, or now.

Brian W


On 10/31/2010 9:00 PM, William Robertson wrote:
> For what it's worth:  As someone who has done research in cognitive
> science, I always thought that research in psychology is largely
> composed of demonstrating what we all know to be true. There are
> anomalies, of course.
>
> Bill
>
>
> William C. Robertson, Ph.D.
> Bill Robertson Science, Inc.
> Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It.
> wrobert9@ix.netcom.com
> 1340 Telemark Drive
> Woodland Park, CO 80863
> 719-686-1609
>
> On Oct 31, 2010, at 7:55 PM, Richard Hake wrote:
>
> > Some subscribers to Phys-L and Physoc might be interested in a post
> > "Re: More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention #2" [Hake
> > (2010)].  The abstract reads:
> >
> > ****************************************
> > ABSTRACT:  In response to my post "Re: More Difficult to Read Text
> > Leads to Better Retention" EDDRA2's Keith Baker wrote :
> >
> > "Bad fonts slow down reading which means that info has longer to get
> > processed into long term memory which improves memory of the info. .
> > . . . . . CP Snow was right.  There is no need for physicists to
> > reinvent the wheel psychology discovered 100 years ago if there is
> > good education."
> >
> > Two points:
> >
> > 1. I wonder if Baker could tell us *what* he thinks C.P. Snow
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Snow>   was right about?
> >
> > 2. Regarding physicists "reinventing the wheel psychology discovered
> > 100 years ago":
> >
> > a. The article "Fortune Favors the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects
> > of Disfluency on Educational Outcomes" [Oppenheimer et al. (2010)]
> > was authored by *psychologists* at Princeton and Indiana University.
> >
> > b. Considering the probable insignificance of "difficult-to-read
> > fonts" to higher-order learning relative to "interactive engagement"
> > [Benezet (1935, 1936), Hake (1998a,b)], is the emphasis on fonts
> > actually a flat tire rather than a wheel? - see the signature quote.
> >   ****************************************
> >
> > To access the complete 12 kB post please click on<http://bit.ly/cmFMZr
> > > .
> > Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
> > Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
> > President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which
> > Recognize the
> >        Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
> > <rrhake@earthlink.net>
> > <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
> > <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
> > <http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
> > <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
> >
> > "It seems that in education, the wheel (more usually the flat tire)
> > must be reinvented every few decades"
> >        Lee Shulman, as paraphrased by the late Arnold Arons (1986, p.
> > 24):
> >
> >
> > REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by<http://bit.ly/>  and accessed on
> > 31 October 2010.]
> > Hake, R.R. 2010. "Re: More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better
> > Retention #2," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
> > <http://bit.ly/cmFMZr>. The abstract and link to the complete  post
> > are being transmitted to various discussion lists and are also online
> > on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at<http://bit.ly/c040Lz>.
> >
> > Oppenheimer, D.M., C.D. Yauman,&  E.B. Vaughn. 2010. "Fortune Favors
> > the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects of Disfluency on Educational
> > Outcomes," online at<http://bit.ly/cATcBK>.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Forum for Physics Educators
> > Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> > https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
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