There's no proof that you actually get points any faster, but if you pick them up as soon as they give that kick, you can drop them on the table and they'll start researching again.
All you are doing is removing the time they spend wandering around the table not researching (maybe 5-10 seconds) -- just like if you were dragging your villagers back to the berry bush so they foraged faster.
That's a little too micromanagment for me -- I usually just turn the game off for a few hours and let the little guys research on their own

-- jen