Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
I agree about focus. The multitasking that occurs with audiobooks is the reason I doubt they are as effective as eye reading for absorbing and retaining information. I can readily believe that in a controlled experiment where one group is reading and one group is listening, there may be no real differences in comprehension and retention, but in the real world, I would expect that most listeners are not simply sitting and listening, but are doing other things at the same time.
|
I agree that I think the nature of the experiment influenced the results. I know anecdotal evidence is no evidence at all, but I also know that my retention rate is worse with audiobooks, especially for non-fiction. It's partially focus, but it's also as you said upthread; when I read non-fiction, I can flip back to verify facts, use the index, check footnotes and so forth. There's also the loss of additional visual information such as pictures, charts and maps. As it is, when I can, I like to backup a non-fiction audiobook with the ebook, so I can skim parts where I feel as if I've missed critical information. But I've made my peace with the experience, also; I'm so walking away with something, even if it's less than I'd have gleaned from the book. The defects of the virtues of audiobooks, but it's not an all or nothing situation.