KPBS News - Speed Reading? Not So Fast

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Don't rely on speed reading tools such as Spritz or RSVP-based apps to read much faster without losing comprehension, because the research presented in the video does not support their claims. Researcher Elizabeth Schotter's studies found that rereading is essential to understanding text, and that people cannot read effectively at the rates these apps promise.

Key Points

• Spritz, a newer speed reading app, is based on RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation), which flashes one word at a time in a fixed rectangle so readers cannot go back.
• Most college-educated adults read at roughly 200 to 500 words per minute; the apps promise about 1,000 words per minute.
• In Schotter's UC San Diego eye-tracking study, blocking rereading with X's sharply reduced people's ability to answer comprehension questions.
• When readers felt they needed more information, they went back to words they had already passed, but their eyes showed they weren't actually gaining new information from rereading those words, which is when comprehension was poorest.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: The video gives no step-by-step method for reading faster. The practical advice is to read at your natural pace and allow yourself to reread passages when you need more information, since the study indicates that rereading helps comprehension.
• The 1970s Johnny Carson era of speed reading was promoted through claims such as a 13-year-old reading 13,000 words per minute, which the video presents as a historical example of hype.
• Spritz claims its app is based on science, but the report says it did not cite peer-reviewed papers and did not respond to an interview request.
• In the experiment, participants' eye movements were tracked with infrared light while they read complex sentences and answered yes-or-no questions about them.
• Schotter suggests that humans have read static text for thousands of years, and if a much quicker method existed, it would likely already have been found.

Bottom Line

Speed reading apps that eliminate rereading are likely to hurt comprehension, so faster reading claims should be treated with skepticism.