Benjamin Keep, PhD, JD | What Speed Readers Won't Tell You @benjaminkeep | Uploaded March 2023 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Speed reading seems like a way to learn more efficiently. But is it? I explore what the research says about speed reading (and normal reading).
0:00 How to explore the claims of speed readers
1:09 Tim Ferris's speed reading techniques
3:26 The relationship between eye movements and reading comprehension
4:49 Tests of reading comprehension
5:52 Maximum words per minute (WPM)
6:46 Why do people believe in speed reading?
If you want to be the first to know about the courses I'm releasing, sign up here: https://forms.gle/px7ZmXkvJW26uFWp8
Sign up to my email newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: benjaminkeep.com
More learning myths: youtu.be/jcMk3e7u7zM
More on when learning fast backfires: youtu.be/wRb32j6_pD4
Thomas Frank’s videos on speed reading go over the research quite well, too. Check them out here: youtube.com/watch?v=jv2BdHXRD3Q (part 1), youtube.com/watch?v=JL4WMHyUhdc (part 2).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Opening screenshots of the Spreeder app found here: spreeder.com
Excerpts of Tim Ferris's speed reading video comes from: youtube.com/watch?v=ZwEquW_Yij0. The screenshot of comments comes from there, too.
Demo of the Spritz speed reading app comes from: readmei.com
I used this speed reading tool to display the words "This doesn't work at all" in the video: tools-unite.com/tools/speed-reading-app
The sentence I used to illustrate that people pause at the end of sentences comes from The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, translated by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike (bookshop.org/p/books/man-without-qualities-robert-musil/18761811): "There is, in short, no great idea that stupidity cannot put to its own uses; it can move in all directions, and put on all the guises of truth." A difficult, but hilarious and profound and tragic book.
REFERENCES
The most thorough description of the reading process, and why speed reading doesn’t work, is here: Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help?. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4-34. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1529100615623267
The paper that tested serial presentation of words (in other words, no eye movements, just rapid word presentation like popular speed reading apps such as Spritz) is: Acklin, D., & Papesh, M. H. (2017). Modern speed-reading apps do not foster reading comprehension. The American Journal of Psychology, 130(2), 183-199.. researchgate.net/profile/Dina-Acklin/publication/316499956_Modern_Speed-Reading_Apps_Do_Not_Foster_Reading_Comprehension/links/598de0b5a6fdcc1225fca2cc/Modern-Speed-Reading-Apps-Do-Not-Foster-Reading-Comprehension.pdf
For good background reading, especially for seeing how old false claims about speed reading are, check out: Brozo, W. G., & Johns, J. L. (1986). A content and critical analysis of 40 speed reading books. Journal of Reading, 30(3), 242-247.
For support of the idea that regressions (which I called backtracking in the video) HELP comprehension, see below. I used their fig 2 (page 4) to show how regressions facilitate reading comprehension. Schotter, E. R., Tran, R., & Rayner, K. (2014). Don’t believe what you read (only once) comprehension is supported by regressions during reading. Psychological science, 25(6), 1218-1226. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956797614531148
For a readable summary of the research on speed reading, check out the introduction to this piece. I used the graph of speed reading vs normal reading in the video as well (fig 3, page 7). Weimer, C. (2021). Effects of Reading Speed and Retrieval Practice on Reading Comprehension. Nysa, the NKU Journal of Student Research; v. 2, Fall 2019. https://dspace.nku.edu/bitstream/handle/11216/3673/OCR%20Weimer_The%20Effects%20of%20Reading%20Speed%20and%20Retrieval%20Practice%20on%20Reading%20Comprehension_Nysa_2_2019.pdf?sequence=1
For information on developing reading fluency for non-native speakers, which is a different but related research question, check out this one: Nation, P. (2009). Reading faster. International Journal of English Studies, 9(2). revistas.um.es/ijes/article/download/90791/87591
Speed reading seems like a way to learn more efficiently. But is it? I explore what the research says about speed reading (and normal reading).
0:00 How to explore the claims of speed readers
1:09 Tim Ferris's speed reading techniques
3:26 The relationship between eye movements and reading comprehension
4:49 Tests of reading comprehension
5:52 Maximum words per minute (WPM)
6:46 Why do people believe in speed reading?
If you want to be the first to know about the courses I'm releasing, sign up here: https://forms.gle/px7ZmXkvJW26uFWp8
Sign up to my email newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: benjaminkeep.com
More learning myths: youtu.be/jcMk3e7u7zM
More on when learning fast backfires: youtu.be/wRb32j6_pD4
Thomas Frank’s videos on speed reading go over the research quite well, too. Check them out here: youtube.com/watch?v=jv2BdHXRD3Q (part 1), youtube.com/watch?v=JL4WMHyUhdc (part 2).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Opening screenshots of the Spreeder app found here: spreeder.com
Excerpts of Tim Ferris's speed reading video comes from: youtube.com/watch?v=ZwEquW_Yij0. The screenshot of comments comes from there, too.
Demo of the Spritz speed reading app comes from: readmei.com
I used this speed reading tool to display the words "This doesn't work at all" in the video: tools-unite.com/tools/speed-reading-app
The sentence I used to illustrate that people pause at the end of sentences comes from The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, translated by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike (bookshop.org/p/books/man-without-qualities-robert-musil/18761811): "There is, in short, no great idea that stupidity cannot put to its own uses; it can move in all directions, and put on all the guises of truth." A difficult, but hilarious and profound and tragic book.
REFERENCES
The most thorough description of the reading process, and why speed reading doesn’t work, is here: Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help?. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4-34. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1529100615623267
The paper that tested serial presentation of words (in other words, no eye movements, just rapid word presentation like popular speed reading apps such as Spritz) is: Acklin, D., & Papesh, M. H. (2017). Modern speed-reading apps do not foster reading comprehension. The American Journal of Psychology, 130(2), 183-199.. researchgate.net/profile/Dina-Acklin/publication/316499956_Modern_Speed-Reading_Apps_Do_Not_Foster_Reading_Comprehension/links/598de0b5a6fdcc1225fca2cc/Modern-Speed-Reading-Apps-Do-Not-Foster-Reading-Comprehension.pdf
For good background reading, especially for seeing how old false claims about speed reading are, check out: Brozo, W. G., & Johns, J. L. (1986). A content and critical analysis of 40 speed reading books. Journal of Reading, 30(3), 242-247.
For support of the idea that regressions (which I called backtracking in the video) HELP comprehension, see below. I used their fig 2 (page 4) to show how regressions facilitate reading comprehension. Schotter, E. R., Tran, R., & Rayner, K. (2014). Don’t believe what you read (only once) comprehension is supported by regressions during reading. Psychological science, 25(6), 1218-1226. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956797614531148
For a readable summary of the research on speed reading, check out the introduction to this piece. I used the graph of speed reading vs normal reading in the video as well (fig 3, page 7). Weimer, C. (2021). Effects of Reading Speed and Retrieval Practice on Reading Comprehension. Nysa, the NKU Journal of Student Research; v. 2, Fall 2019. https://dspace.nku.edu/bitstream/handle/11216/3673/OCR%20Weimer_The%20Effects%20of%20Reading%20Speed%20and%20Retrieval%20Practice%20on%20Reading%20Comprehension_Nysa_2_2019.pdf?sequence=1
For information on developing reading fluency for non-native speakers, which is a different but related research question, check out this one: Nation, P. (2009). Reading faster. International Journal of English Studies, 9(2). revistas.um.es/ijes/article/download/90791/87591
