[russelluresti]

http://jass.neuro.wisc.edu/2013/01/Group%203.Udomon.Final%20... - "An analysis of the test scores also indicates that visual stimulation is more effective than audio stimuli at achieving higher memory retention and recall (with a p-value < .05). "

http://www.youngscientist.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/... - "From the results, it was concluded that visual information is recalled the most effectively, followed by audio/visual and then audio information."

From my understanding, listening and reading activate the brain in different ways. Listening also takes a higher effort to turn information into memory. It seems that if you're practiced at information processing through listening (e.g. you've listened to a lot of audiobooks or are a practiced storyteller) then there's less of a difference.

Part of me thinks that reading leads to better comprehension and information recall because it's very easy to re-read a sentence versus rewinding audio. Anecdotally, I know I've been in a scenario where I was reading the end of a paragraph and realized I had stopped paying attention and was quickly able to go back and re-read it.

[dntrkv]

One of my favorite features of Audible is the ability to rewind in 30 second segments. Very often I'll be listening to an audiobook and realize that I stopped paying attention, hitting the rewind button a couple times makes it super easy to get back to where you last payed attention.

[surprisetalk]

When that happens to me, it's a sign that I'm listening at a rate that's either too slow or too fast.

I highly recommend speeding/slowing your audiobooks to the perfect point where your mind doesn't wander.