Psychologists and educational specialists working on visual acuity used a tachistoscope to conclude that, with training, an average person could identify minute images flashed on the screen for only one five-hundredth of a second (2 ms) ie.speed reading. Though the images used were of airplanes, the results had implications for reading. Our left brain reads words but right brain takes data as image to learn something.
It was not until the late 1950s that a portable, reliable and convenient device would be developed as a tool for increasing reading speed. Evelyn Wood, a researcher and schoolteacher, was committed to understanding why some people were naturally faster at reading and tried to force herself to read very quickly. In 1958, while brushing off the pages of a 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 used the hand as a pacer.
ypes of reading greatly affect the speed reading. Each of us is wired differently from environmental influences. Many have learned to read word by word from grade school, and have never been taught or informed the need to improve upon that method. When reading word by word, our eyes often skip back to a previous word or line; we might also fixate on a single word even after it has been read. These mechanical issues slow us down while reading and comprehending.
Mental readers generally read at approximately 250 words per minute. Auditory readers read at approximately 450 words per minute. Visual readers read at approximately 700 words per minute. Visual reading is a skill that can be developed through continuous training and practice.
Irrespective of the type being applied, scientific studies have demonstrated that reading—defined here as capturing and decoding all the words on every page—faster than 900 wpm is not possible. This speed limit was derived from the following measurements: The shortest recorded fixation period (approximately a sixth of a second). The shortest recorded period between fixations (approximately one-thirtieth of a second). The maximum recorded number of words that the eye can see in a single fixation (approximately three words ). Utilizing the above three measurements together, it was established that a ten-word line of four inches could be processed, as defined above, at a rate of at most 900 wpm. Reading at speeds higher than 900 wpm is therefore considered as skimming.
