Differences in Brain Activity After Learning With the Use of a Digital Pen vs. an Ink Pen—An Electroencephalography Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify whether there is a learning effect on brain activity after writing with an ink pen vs. a digital pen. Previous studies have reported the superiority of handwriting to typing in terms of learning performance, but differences between the use of an ink pen vs. a digital pen remain unclear. In the present study, the participants learned to read difficult words by writing with an ink pen vs. a digital pen. After the learning period, electroencephalography (EEG) signals were measured, while the participants underwent a repetition priming paradigm with the use of the learned words. The repetition priming effect of the N400 event-related potential (ERP) was quantified as an index of the learning effect and the effects between pen types were compared. The groups were also subdivided according to whether a digital pen is frequently used (familiar vs. unfamiliar group). The number of writing repetitions for each word within 10 min during the learning activity and the post-learning test scores were not affected by the pen-type or familiarity with a digital pen. However, the repetition priming effect of the N400 was greater for words written with a digital pen in the learning session, as compared with an ink pen, in the familiar group, but not the unfamiliar group. These results suggest that for those familiar with its use, writing with a digital pen may improve learning relative to the use of an ink pen.

The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults

“…Compared to typewriting training, handwriting training has not only been found to improve spelling accuracy ( Cunningham and Stanovich, 1990 ) and better memory and recall ( Longcamp et al, 2006 ; Smoker et al, 2009 ; Mueller and Oppenheimer, 2014 ), but also improved letter recognition ( Longcamp et al, 2005 , 2008 ). These benefits have not only been found in traditional handwriting using an ink pen, but also in handwriting using a digital pen ( Osugi et al, 2019 ). These results suggest that the involvement of the intricate hand movements and shaping of each letter may be beneficial in several ways.…”

Advantage of Handwriting Over Typing on Learning Words: Evidence From an N400 Event-Related Potential Index

“…We compared the learning effect of handwriting with the digital pen and with an ink pen acquired in this study with those obtained in our previous study (Osugi et al, 2019). Previously, the participants were also divided into two groups: those who used the digital pen in their daily lives for the familiar group (N = 11) and those who did not for the unfamiliar group (N = 17).…”

“…We recorded EEG signals from adult participants who were native Japanese speakers after they learned Indonesian words by either handwriting with an ink pen on paper, handwriting with a digital pen on a tablet, or typing with a keyboard on a laptop. In our previous study (Osugi et al, 2019), most participants who were familiar with digital pens felt that writing with an ink pen required more effort, while the unfamiliar group perceived writing with a digital pen to be more demanding. Furthermore, most participants who were accustomed to digital pens enjoyed writing with one more than with an ink pen, while a slight majority of the unfamiliar participants favored an ink pen.…”

“…However, writing with a digital pen might be disadvantageous as it is an unfamiliar tool. In a previous study (Osugi et al, 2019), we used N400, an event-related potential (ERP) response to compare the effect of handwriting tools (ink pen vs. digital pen) on learning. Then, we took into account the familiarity of the subjects with digital pens as we divided the participants according to their use of digital pen and tablet in their everyday lives (familiar vs. unfamiliar).…”

“…In order to further clarify the effects of the writing tool on brain activity after learning, we conducted an ERP study which builds on our previous study (Osugi et al, 2019) in the following ways: (1) typing was included as an additional writing method, (2) mood assessment was conducted using the profile of mood states (POMS) questionnaire, and (3) participants were given words in an unknown language words (Indonesian) to learn, instead of difficult words in their mother tongue (Japanese), as in the previous paper. To account for the potential effects of familiarity with digital pens, we divided participants into two groups according to whether they routinely used digital pens.…”