Learning from short videos is difficult

I would like to browse short videos on my phone.

However, if I watch something a little more civilized instead of an AI cat playing a trumpet, I can at least learn something. Can I?

A vain hope, at least if the new Chinese study is to be believed.

The purpose of the study was to find out whether people can learn from short videos that are about 30 seconds long or up to two and a half minutes long.

The researchers conducted three experiments to find out how people remember information from short videos or from a more leisurely video that was about ten minutes long.

The content was the same in both, the only difference was in the rhythm and presentation.

In the first experiment, participants were told that they would soon be shown travel-related content, during which they could relax.

Some were shown a sample of short videos and some were shown a longer video.

The relaxed subjects were not told that their memory would soon be tested.

Immediately after watching the videos, the subjects were asked to answer questions about the content of the videos. They also had to strain their memory the next day.

Those who had seen the short video compilation remembered clearly worse than those who had watched the long video.

The next experiment was conducted with new participants.

In this experiment, the subjects were told at the beginning that they had to try to remember the content of the videos as well as possible.

The purpose was to find out whether the results would differ now that the subjects knew how to sharpen their concentration and were in a position to learn.

Conscious concentration did not help either. Again, the group that had watched the short videos remembered the content clearly worse. The information acquired from the short videos also disappeared from the mind more quickly.

According to the researchers, the use of short videos in teaching should be carefully evaluated.

Could the explanation for this phenomenon be found in brain function? This was investigated in the last experiment.

The participants’ brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging while they watched the videos.

The measurements provided an indication of why learning from short videos is difficult. The brain images appeared to be clearly different between the groups.

In the brains of those who watched the long videos, there was more simultaneous activity between different brain regions, or synchrony. For example, areas involved in information structuring and attention were activated in the brain.

When watching the short videos, there were connections between the brain regions that detect fast sensory stimuli.

At the same time, however, synchrony was weakened in the brain regions that are needed to process information and imprint it in long-term memory.

The researchers estimate that the reason for the poorer absorption of short videos is probably their fragmented nature and frantic rhythm.

The brain’s attention is drawn to fast cuts, sound effects and fast-paced narration. It is possible that these addictive stimuli interfere with the brain’s ability to process information.

According to the researchers, the results suggest that the use of short videos in teaching should be carefully evaluated.

Preliminary results of the study were published in the journal Communications Psychology.