|
Spatial context is an interesting psychological quirk, but it's very subtle. For instance, you're more likely to remember a text while sitting in the chair you read it in, so they encourage students to sit in their "usual" seats when taking tests, BUT the effect is so small that it's barely noticeable and it's really no substitute for traditional studying.
It's also worth remembering that memory can be false. I've had strong memories of a quote being "near the end" of a book, only to later see (courtesy of a search function) that it's much closer to the middle of the text. (Possible explanation: the quote occurred near the "end" of reading, but thanks to copious footnotes in the actual physical "middle" of the book.)
I would certainly not discount eBooks as a learning device simply because of contextual memory. Especially not when things like adjustable font, text size, and search functions probably more than make up any learning deficit.
|