What does research on Binge Watching TV & Piano Practice have in common?

Research by the University of Melbourne, in 2017, suggests that binge TV watchers retained less long-term information about a program and enjoyed the content less compared to daily or weekly viewers. "So what", I hear you say, nothing really surprising there, please read on...

One of the lead authors of this research, Dr Jared Horvath (lecturer in Science of Learning and Research at University of Melbourne), was interviewed on a podcast I listened to recently. He was initially speaking about whether our smart devices are making us dumb.

Apparently they’re not, phew, that’s good to know, as I pull out my iPhone, iPad and plug in my Mac Book Pro. I sometimes wonder what I did before I became an “I” junkie. So while our devices do assist us in providing the answer to a how to spell a word we haven’t used for ages, directions on how to get somewhere or dividing 365 by 12 because we’ve forgotten how to do long division, they generally don’t help us to retain the information. Our brains become very good at using the device to access the information required but not at remembering it.

Memory retention research around TV show binging offers us some reasons behind your own retention of information. Daily and weekly TV viewers had a far less decline in memory recognition 140 days after the final episode and also reported higher levels of enjoyment.

In the podcast, Dr Horvath spoke about memory retention and one of the reasons he thought that binge tv watchers didn’t retain information. He felt this was due to the lack of sleep between episodes. Irrespective of the type of memory, sleep is essential for consolidation of all memories. It is difficult for the brain to absorb new information without enough sleep.

I’m sure you can see where this is going… neurologically our brains are designed to learn daily with sleep laying down the framework for memory retention. Hence daily piano practice is going to be much more effective than a 4 hour binge on the weekend.

The Podcast: Counterpoint from ABC
The Research: The impact of binge watching on memory and perceived comprehension