Effects of Doodling Style, Boredom, and Sensation Seeking on Recall Tasks

Whether doodling positively or negatively affects memory is still to be determined. The underlying mechanisms of doodling's effect on memory have yet to be fully explored. This study examined the impact of doodling style, boredom, and sensation seeking on recall tasks using a dual-task paradigm with a 3 (doodling method: structured doodling/unstructured doodling/no doodling) × 2 (boredom level: high/low) two-factor between-participants design. Key findings included an interaction between doodling style and boredom level on recall test performance, where participants in the no-doodling group significantly improved their recall test performance. In contrast, those in the unstructured doodling group exhibited a significant decline in recall performance under high boredom conditions. Furthermore, participants' performance on the recall task diminished as the complexity and quality of their drawings increased. These findings offer insights into strategies for reducing boredom and enhancing memory in educational and professional settings by shedding light on the effects of doodling styles, boredom levels, and sensation-seeking tendencies on recall tasks.