Fortune favors the bold (and the Italicized): effects of disfluency on educational outcomes.
Previous research has shown that disfluency--the subjective experience of difficulty associated with cognitive operations - leads to deeper processing. Two studies explore the extent to which this deeper processing engendered by disfluency interventions can lead to improved memory performance. Study 1 found that information in hard-to-read fonts was better remembered than easier to read information in a controlled laboratory setting. Study 2 extended this finding to high school classrooms. The results suggest that superficial changes to learning materials could yield significant improvements in educational outcomes.
Princeton University, Department of Psychology, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States.
Connor
C
Diemand-Yauman
Daniel M
DM
Oppenheimer
Erikka B
EB
Vaughan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D012931:Social Environment; D013664:Teaching Materials; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult