Font and Memory
To determine whether a serif font, such as Times New Roman or a sans serif font, such as Arial is more easily remembered.
Theory & Background
Have you ever wondered about this fascinating scientific process? You will need access to a computer with a word processor such as Microsoft Word and a printer.
Required Materials
- Computer
- Printer
- Paper
- Scissors
- Timer
- Journal or logbook
- 10 volunteer students, including 5 girls and 5 boys
Estimated Time
About one day
Step-By-Step Procedure
Begin by typing several small and easy to remember sentences, such as “The dog ran home.” Type the sentences in two separate types of font – one in a serif type font and the other in a sans serif type font. You will need to have completely different sentences – no duplicates. Set the font size at about 14 and leave enough space in between for you to cut out each sentence and use it like a flashcard.
Type out several longer sentences as well, such as “Johnny came home from school and ate dinner with his family.”
Last, you will want to type out several very long sentences, such as “It was the middle of December and the town had just had a snow blizzard. The school bus was late because of the ice and snow that was on the road.”
Cut out all sentences.
Approach each volunteer student and have him or her look at one of the smallest sentences for 5 seconds. Then ask them to repeat the sentence back to you. Record how easily he or she remembered the sentence and whether it was in a serif or sans serif font.
Have the student look at another small sentence in the other type of font for 5 seconds and record how easily the student remembered the sentence.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 with each sentence size (small, medium and large) and in each type of font with each student. Remember to record all the results!
Graph the results to determine which type of font is most easily remembered
Experiment Tips
- Measure how easily each sentence was remembered by noting how many words out of the total number of words in the sentence were remembered.
Observation
Students won’t be able to remember every word in the sentences of either font, especially the longest sentences. Remember that this will be one of your variables.
Result & Conclusion
The graph should show which type of font is most easily remembered by students.