Although it’s probably a waste of time trying to interpret a doodle, could the act of doodling itself still be a beneficial habit for attention and memory in certain circumstances?

Crucially, these participants were pretty bored. They’d just finished another boring study, were sitting in a boring room and the person’s voice in the message was monotone.

Looking at the results the beneficial effects of doodling are right there. Non-doodlers wrote down an average of seven of the eight target names. But the doodlers wrote down an average of almost all eight names.

It wasn’t just their attention that was enhanced, though, doodling also benefited memory. Afterwards participants were given a surprise memory test, after being specifically told they didn’t have to remember anything. Once again doodlers performed better, in fact almost 30% better.

Andrade speculates that doodling helps people concentrate because it stops their minds wandering but doesn’t (in this case) interfere with the primary task of listening.

Obviously doodling is not a task you want to indulge in while concentrating on a complicated task, but it may help you maintain just enough focus during a relatively simple, boring task, that you can actually get it done better.

Research on doodling might sound a little trivial but it’s fascinating because it speaks to us about many facets of human psychology, including mind wandering, zoning out, attention and the nature of boredom. Plus it’s a really nice idea that doodling has a higher purpose, other than just wasting time and paper.