Overview
While extensive research has been devoted to mapping the human brain, less attention has been given to practical memory-related challenges, like recalling grocery lists or helping colleagues remember important details from an email.
Part of the reason humans are so forgetful is that our minds rely on heuristics. These “mental shortcuts” enable efficient processing of information, but result in selective memory (Kahneman, 2011). Mnemonic strategies, like creating words from the first letters of a list can help jog one’s memory (Levin et al., 1992), but it’s not a failsafe solution. Perhaps the ways we format our writing can help.
This study explores whether a simple technique already embedded in word processors and email software—the bulleted list—can aid memory and improve recall of key details. Given that bulleted lists serve to draw attention to key information that might otherwise get lost within a paragraph, this easy formatting change could improve how well readers remember those details.
We put this hypothesis to the test with a memorable experiment.
While extensive research has been devoted to mapping the human brain, less attention has been given to practical memory-related challenges, like recalling grocery lists or helping colleagues remember important details from an email.
Part of the reason humans are so forgetful is that our minds rely on heuristics. These “mental shortcuts” enable efficient processing of information, but result in selective memory (Kahneman, 2011). Mnemonic strategies, like creating words from the first letters of a list can help jog one’s memory (Levin et al., 1992), but it’s not a failsafe solution. Perhaps the ways we format our writing can help.
This study explores whether a simple technique already embedded in word processors and email software—the bulleted list—can aid memory and improve recall of key details. Given that bulleted lists serve to draw attention to key information that might otherwise get lost within a paragraph, this easy formatting change could improve how well readers remember those details.
We put this hypothesis to the test with a memorable experiment.
The Experiment
We conducted a randomized controlled trial, designed as a survey experiment, with 400 participants recruited from Amazon MTurk. Participants were presented with a vignette scenario involving a routine visit to a grocery store to pick up three food items (bread, apples, and oranges). Unbeknownst to these participants, we randomly varied whether the three food items were displayed within a paragraph or as a bulleted list. To disguise the nature of the study, all participants were then instructed to choose between a paper bag or a plastic bag at checkout.
After responding to the bag-related question, participants completed 3-4 minutes of additional survey questions unrelated to the experiment. Finally, at the end of the survey, participants were asked to recall the three food items they were supposed to pick up during the grocery scenario. Specifically, we asked participants the following question:
"Think back to the grocery store scenario where the cashier asked you whether you wanted a paper bag or plastic bag. You were at the grocery store to pick up 3 items. What were those 3 items?"
Results
Our findings indicate that bulleted lists had a positive impact on participants' memory, as measured by the number of food items they could recall. Those who saw the items presented as a bulleted list remembered 33.4% more items (average = 1.98) than the in-paragraph control condition (average = 1.48), (p < 0.001). The bulleted list also improved accurate recall of all three food items collectively (p = 0.009). Whereas 22.7% of participants correctly recalled all three food items in the in-paragraph condition, 34.5% of participants did so in the bulleted list condition, an increase of over 50%.
Conclusion
If your goal is to help others remember vital information, using a bulleted list could help. While the underlying mechanism, either memory enhancement or attention shifting, requires further investigation, we can reasonably conclude that bullet points aid in remembering short but important details. In future studies, we hope to explore the effectiveness of this technique with longer lists and determine its potential applicability in other contexts.
References
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Levin, J. R.; Levin, M. E.; Glasman, L. D.; Nordwall, M. B. (1992). "Mnemonic vocabulary instruction: Additional effectiveness evidence". Contemporary Educational Psychology. 17(2): 156–174.
Methods Note
We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses to test for significant differences in list items remembered between the bullet list and no-bullet list conditions. For significant differences, the difference between the two groups' averages would be large and its corresponding “p-value” would be small. If the p-value is less than 0.05, we consider the difference statistically significant, meaning we'd likely find a similar effect if we ran the study again with this population. To test whether differences for specific groups differ significantly from their counterparts (e.g., older vs. younger), we used OLS regression analyses with interaction terms and a p-value threshold of less than 0.01. No such interactions were detected.
Additional details are available on our methodology page. Data and survey materials are available upon request.