Speed reading

Speed reading is a collection of reading methods which attempt to increase rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention. Such methods include using various psychological techniques such as chunking and eliminating subvocalization. It is important to understand that no absolute distinct "normal" and "speed-reading" types of reading exist in practice, since all readers use some of the techniques used in speed reading (such as identifying words without focusing on each letter, not sounding out all words, not sub-vocalizing some phrases, or spending less time on some phrases than others, and skimming small sections). Speed reading is characterized by an analysis of trade-offs between measures of speed and comprehension, recognizing that different types of reading call for different speed and comprehension rates, and that those rates may be improved with practice. (Abela 2004)

Commercial speed reading programs

Some businesses selling courses and manuals on speed reading claim that it is possible to increase the reading to beyond 1 words per second with full comprehension, provided the course is followed and that the exercises are constantly practiced. However, a good deal of these courses and manuals are conflicting as to why and how speed reading should be adopted as a method.

Some other businesses claim that a person can double to triple their current speed. So a person reading at 2 words per second (the average rate for untrained adult readers), can take a speed reading course and learn how to read at 5 to 7 words per second while maintaining, or even improving comprehension.

One point of contention between the various speed reading courses is the assertions concerning subvocalization. Some courses claim that the main obstacle to speed reading is any form of subvocalization. Other courses claim that subvocalization can be used on keywords in order to speed up learning and reading. And some proponents of speed reading claim that subvocalization can be broken down into two levels, only one of which will reduce reading speed.

Speed reading courses and books take a variety of approaches to the concept of reading comprehension. Some courses and books claim that good comprehension is essential to speed reading, and that comprehension will improve with speed reading. Special non-standardized reading comprehension questionnaires are provided in order to convince the reader of the effects of the program. Some courses advise that while comprehension is important, it should not be measured or promoted above the speed of reading. Other courses and books argue that 90% of reading material is irrelevant and so comprehension should simply be ignored.

Speed reading courses variously claim that not all information in text needs to be covered while speed reading. (Abela 2004) Some claim that speed reading involves skipping text (exactly as has been measured during studies on skimming), whereas other speed reading promoters claim that all of the text is processed, but with some or most becoming subconsciously processed. Similarly, some courses claim that text should be serially processed whereas others say that information is processed in a more haphazard or ad hoc fashion. Other methods, including Rapid Analytical Reading, advocate processing information based on the grammatical structure of the language. Terminology such as vision span and subvocalization are often used as explanations, but findings of research into these terms is not presented.

Claims of real life speed readers

According to some speed reading advocates, the World Championship Speed Reading Competition stresses reading comprehension as critical, and that the top contestants typically read around 1000 to 2000 words per minute with approximately 50% comprehension. The 10,000 word/min claimants have yet to reach this level.

Much controversy is raised over this point. This is mainly because a reading comprehension level of 50% is deemed unusable by some educationalists (Carver 1992). Speed reading advocates claim that it is a great success and even state that it is a demonstration of good comprehension for many purposes (Buzan 2000). The trade-off between "speed" and comprehension must be analyzed with respect to the type of reading that is being done, the risks associated with mis-understanding due to low comprehension, and the benefits associated with getting through the material quickly and gaining information at the actual rate it is obtained.

Jacques Bergier was a natural speed reader and he could read up to ten books per day.

Howard Stephen Berg claims to be the fastest reader in the world reading at a rate of 25,000 words per minute. The figure was deduced from him reading different texts on over a dozen television shows, and being tested by over a dozen newspapers in various cities around the country. On Cleveland's Morning Exchange, Howard completed an 1100 page book and scored a perfect score on recall. He was retested three years later on the same book using his recall from the previous show again with perfect recall. Dick Cavett had Berg memorize his autobiography in 90 seconds and he demonstrated perfect recall. On Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Berg memorized a 200 page book, "Going to the Movies," by Quentin Crisp, and scored 100% on the extensive test given by the author.

Howard Berg was listed in the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records as the world's fastest reader, and his work has been reviewed by two former Presidents of Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics, Doug Hall, and Tommy Thompson Jr. Red Book, Men's Health, Bottom Line, Selling, and Forbe's FYI have all featured his approach to speed reading that differs from many others like photoreading. Berg does not consider reading the same as learning, which is why he linked his reading strategies to brain-base studying, writing, and test-taking techniques. Berg does not believe that readers should use hypnosis to recall text, but advocates conscious learning using brain-based learning strategies.

Berg is a director of the New American School where his program is used by students who often complete high school in 2.5 years with 30-45 college credits.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy was a proponent of speed reading and encouraged his staff to take lessons.

Jimmy Carter, also a U.S. president, and his wife Rosalynn, were both avid readers and enrolled in a speed-reading course (which their daughter Amy Carter attended briefly) at the White House, along with several staff members.

A critical-skeptical discussion about the speed reading stories appeared in Slate. Among others, the article raises doubts about the origin of John F. Kennedy's allegedly amazing reading speed. Ronald Carver, a professor of education research and psychology, claims that the fastest college graduate readers can only read at most twice as fast as the slowest counterparts, namely about 600 words per minute.

Software

Speed reading computer application programs are available. Vortex Speed Reading was the first; however, Vallier, the creator of the program, did not update it and it would not work on Windows XP. Other programs are available on the Internet, many of which employ the same techniques and methods as in Vallier's software.

Many speed reading programs use a different approach to the usual 'speed reading' tips where a few words are grouped together to be read. One method is presenting words to the reader one at a time in the same position, stopping the eyes from having to move around as they would on a normal paragraph.

These programs present the data as a serial stream as the only way the brain handles text is breaking it up into a serial stream before parsing and interpreting it. Speed reading programs pre-process and serialize text, so the brain does not need to do so.

Usually, commas and semi-colons have a single break and periods, question marks, exclamation marks, and speech marks have a double break.

Some speed reading programs include watching the center of the screen while watching the lines around it expand, watching several objects (instead of text) move by in a line and watching an object bounce around, up and down, left and right and require the user to focus their eyes on the object while it moves. The method of using objects are criticized by some who state that the only way to read faster is to read actual text.

The newest speed reading software guides the user through the lines of an on-screen book at certain speeds. The text is usually highlighted to indicate where the reader should focus. The user is not expected to read by pronouncing words, but to read by viewing the words as images. The exercises are intended to train the reader to eliminate subvocalization which, it is claimed, will allow them to read at higher rates. The best analogy is a billboard. When you see a billboard with the word Milk, you do not have to pronounce the word, you can recognize it just as easily as you would see a glass of milk.

Learning speed reading techniques is similar to learning a foreign language. It is more difficult when the student is older and easier when they are younger. It takes practice. Some benefits can be seen right away but true speed reading abilities develop over time and after practicing frequently. Many people give up before they have mastered the technique. Many also complain that comprehension is reduced. Comprehension is re-learned and takes time. When a child learns to read the first time, they have little comprehension. After years of reading, the child will develop comprehension. The average person only has a 50% to 70% comprehension rate reading 250 words per minute. Speed readers may start at zero percent and build to 50% after several months while building speed from 600 to 1000 words per minute. Comprehension will continue to improve as speed reading techniques are practiced.

One of the benefits of speed reading is the ability to re-read information. With 50% comprehension, a reader can re-read material two or three times thereby gaining more comprehension than they would have with a single normal reading pace read through which would have taken much longer.

History of speed reading

Psychologists and educational specialists working on the visual acuity question devised the tachistoscope, which is a machine designed to flash images at varying rates on a screen. The experiment started with large pictures of aircraft being displayed for participants. The images were gradually reduced in size and the flashing-rate was increased. They found that, with training, an average person could identify minute images of different planes when flashed on the screen for only one-five-hundredth of a second. The results had implications for reading.

Using the same methodology, the U.S. Air Force soon discovered that they could flash four words simultaneously on the screen at rates of one five-hundredth of a second with full recognition by the reader. This training demonstrated clearly that, with some work, reading speeds could be increased from reading rates to skimming rates. Not only could they be increased but the improvements were made by improving visual processing. Therefore, the next step was to train eye movements by means of a variety of pacing techniques in an attempt to improve reading. The reading courses that followed used the tachistoscope to increase reading speeds; it assumed that readers were able to increase their effective speeds from 200 to 400 words per minute using the machine. The drawback to the tachistoscope was that post-course timings showed that, without the machine, speed increases rapidly diminished.

Following the tachistoscope discoveries, the Harvard Business School produced the first film-aided course, designed to widen the reader’s field of focus in order to increase reading speed. Again, the focus was on visual processing as a means of improvement. Using machines to increase people's reading speeds was a trend of the 1940s. While it had been assumed that reading speed increases of 100% were possible and had been attained, lasting results had yet to be demonstrated.

It was not until the late 1950s that a portable, reliable and 'handy' device would be developed as a tool for increasing reading speed. The researcher was a school-teacher named Evelyn Wood. She was committed to understanding why some people were naturally faster at reading than others and was trying to force herself to read very quickly. It is told that while brushing off the pages of the book she had thrown down in despair, she discovered that the sweeping motion of her hand across the page caught the attention of her eyes, and helped them move more smoothly across the page. She then utilized the hand as a pacer, and called it the "Wood Method", which was renamed to Reading Dynamics in 1958. She coined the term "speed reading."

More recently, speed reading courses and books have been developed designed to help the consumer achieve even higher increases in reading speed, some at 10,000 words per minute with high comprehension. With specific reference to pseudoscience concepts, companies have claimed to be able to extract meaning out of consciously unnoticed text from the para-consciousness or subconscious. These courses go by various titles such as photo-reading (1994), and alpha-netics (1999). Reading experts refer to them as snake oil reading lessons because of their high dependence on the suspension of the consumer’s disbelief.

Other researchers have gone in the opposite direction. Rather than seeking increased reading speed, they have focused on comprehension. These approaches include Rapid Analytical Reading (2005), and have been marketed primarily to college students and corporations.

Still another approach is used by Ultimate Speed Reading (2007). It is part of a complete learning system combining study skills, writing skills, brain-based learning, and test-taking skills with speed reading. The author believes that reading alone whether fast or slow is not learning, and that combining it with these other tools produces the best possible results.

Satire

Woody Allen made a satirical joke about speed reading:

I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.

See also

• Evelyn Wood (teacher)
• Fixation
• Meta guiding
• PhotoReading
• Rapid Serial Visual Presentation
• Reading
• Regression
• Skimming
• Slow reading
• Subvocalization
• SQ3R
• Vision span

References

• Allyn & Bacon, (1987) The Psychology of Reading and Language Comprehension. Boston
• Buzan (2000) The Speed Reading Book. BBC Ltd
• Carver, R.P-Prof(1990) Reading Rate: A Comprehensive Review of Research and Theory. (1990)
• Carver, R. P. (1992). Reading rate: Theory, research and practical implications. Journal of Reading, 36, 84-95.
• Cunningham, A. E., Stanovich, K. E., & Wilson, M. R. (1990). Cognitive variation in adult college students differing in reading ability. In T. H. Carr & B. A. Levy (Eds.), Reading and its development: Component skills approaches (pp. 129-159). New York: Academic Press.
• Harris and Sipay (1990) How to Increase Reading Ability. Longman
• FTC Report (1998) [1] [2]
• Homa, D (1983) An assessment of two “extraordinary” speed-readers. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 21(2), 123-126.
• Nell, V. (1988). The psychology of reading for pleasure. Needs and gratifications. Reading Research Quarterly, 23(1), 6-50
• Perfetti (1995) Reading Ability New York:Oxford University Press
• Scheele, Paul R (1996) The Photoreading Whole Mind System
• "Speed Reading Made EZ" Usenet post [3], part of the alt.self-improve FAQ
• Abela (2004) Black Art of Speed Reading lecture notes
• Whitaker (2005) Speed Reading Wikibooks
• Arvin Vohra Education (2005) Rapid Analytical Reading Announcement [4]

External links

• Speed reading at Curlie
• Dictator - Open-Source Speed Reading Software