How Special forms of Nonsense Make us Smarter
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
A recent study found that using surrealism or other devices to create “meaning threats” (e.g. fire that feels icy cold), pushes us into an enhanced cognitive state that can improve learning outcomes. In one study, subjects read Kafka’s “The Country Doctor” (filled with strange and nonsensical events) and were given an artificial grammar learning test where they were asked to find hidden patterns in text. Researchers found:
“People who read the nonsensical story checked off more letter strings –– clearly they were motivated to find structure,” said Proulx. “But what’s more important is that they were actually more accurate than those who read the more normal version of the story. They really did learn the pattern better than the other participants did.”
The implication for designers is that meaning threats can be a useful device for priming user’s cognition.
