FACT SHEET
The Brain
& Writing
Contents
This factsheet explains how writing is produced through processes that do not naturally align with the needs of the reader.
- Part One: The research into how we write
- Part Two: Why it matters
Part One
Three Key Studies Explaining
How We Write
By default, writing is driven by what is most easily retrieved from memory, governed by how the task is understood, and restricted by what working memory can sustain.
01
Knowledge Telling vs. Knowledge Transforming
In 1987, psychologists Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia published The Psychology of Written Composition, using think-aloud protocols to observe how writing is produced in real time. Their research revealed that writers naturally default to “knowledge telling”—retrieving information from memory and recording it in the exact order it becomes available. This produces text that mirrors the writer’s existing internal understanding. To actually address problems of explanation, a writer must force a shift into “knowledge transforming,” a secondary process requiring the simultaneous management of both content and communication. The science concludes that knowledge telling is the automatic default; knowledge transforming requires deliberate, unnatural effort.
02
The Cognitive Limits of Working Memory
In 2008, psychologist Ronald T. Kellogg mapped the cognitive demands of writing against the strict limits of human working memory. He demonstrated that producing text requires the simultaneous coordination of multiple massive processes: generating ideas, translating them into language, monitoring the developing text, and maintaining a continuous simulation of how a reader will interpret it. Kellogg proved that when this combined cognitive load exceeds working memory capacity, the brain must drop an element to cope. Under these high-strain conditions, attention to the reader is almost always the first casualty.
Part two
Why This Matters
Communicating complex concepts with the end audience in mind is a learned discipline that goes contrary to the brain’s default.
To write a successful document, we must force our brains from “knowledge telling” to “knowledge transforming.” This means simultaneously managing the complex content and the needs of the reader. Because knowledge transforming requires knowing how to deliberately override our brain’s default setting, successful writing is an entirely separate discipline from subject matter expertise.
Deep subject matter expertise is not the same as knowing how to effectively communicate that knowledge.
Schedule
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Consultation
Let me know when you are ready to discuss your project. I live on the East Coast of the United States and work with clients around the world.
michie@michiekane.com