Editing Speed reading (section)

== Controversies in speed reading ==
Common controversies in speed reading are between its intent and nature with traditional concepts like comprehension versus speed, reading versus skimming, and popular psychology versus [[Evidence-based practice|evidence-based]] psychology. Much of the controversy is raised over these points. This is mainly because a reading comprehension level of 50% is deemed unusable by some educationalists.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reading Rate: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications |first=Ronald P.|last=Carver |date=1992 |journal=Journal of Reading |volume=36 |number=2 |pages=84–95}}</ref> Advocates claim that speed reading is a great success and that it is a demonstration of good comprehension for many purposes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buzan |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpvjGZ_Ff60C |title=The Speed Reading Book |date=2006 |location=Harlow |publisher=BBC Active |isbn=978-1-4066-1021-5}}</ref> 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 misunderstanding due to low comprehension, and the benefits associated with getting through the material quickly and gaining information at the actual rate is to be obtained. [[Mark Seidenberg]] considers claims like reading 25,000 words per minute "cannot be true given basic facts about eyes and texts". He goes on to say that "people are as likely to read thousands of words per minute as they are to run faster than the speed of light".<ref>{{cite book |first=Mark |last=Seidenberg |title=Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can't, and What Can Be Done About It |pages=70–84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTBnAgAAQBAJ |year=2017 |location=New York City |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-46508-065-6}}</ref>

[[File:Reading Fixations Saccades.jpg|thumb|A plot of the eye movements of a speed reader]]

Similarly, in evaluating a claim that a similar reading strategy known as PhotoReading could increase reading rates to 25,000 words per minute, McNamara published a preliminary analysis funded by [[NASA]] to evaluate whether this strategy could improve reading speed, comprehension, and information gathering efficiency. When identical versions of five reading samples and accompanying reading comprehension tests were administered to a trainee and an expert in this reading strategy, there was no advantage in overall reading time or comprehension. This strategy may also cause overestimation of one's knowledge, as demonstrated by the following case in McNamara's preliminary analysis, showing evidence of the [[Dunning-Kruger effect]]:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20000011599.pdf |title=Preliminary Analysis of PhotoReading |last=McNamara |first=Danielle S. |date=30 September 1999 |website=NASA Technical Reports Server |access-date=13 December 2018}}</ref>

{{quote|The final task given to the PhotoReading expert was to read the three chapters from the textbook on Physiology in order to take an exam from a course that used that textbook. The question was simply: Would she pass the exam? The expert took 73 minutes to PhotoRead and read the three chapters of the textbook required for the test (i.e., 361 [[words per minute]]). She PhotoRead for 9 minutes the night before taking the test. The following morning, she read the text using various rapid reading and activation techniques. She then answered the questions. She completed the 6 true/false and 30 multiple choice questions, but did not attempt to answer the fill-in-the-blank or short-answer questions. Hence, comprehension performance on the conceptual questions was 0 percent. She answered 2 of 7 multiple-choice prior knowledge questions correctly (29%). Of the text relevant questions, she answered 4 of 6 true/false questions correctly (67%), and 8 of 23 multiple-choice question correctly (35%). This performance is extremely low and only slightly above chance level performance for these types of questions (i.e., 50% and 25%, respectively). In sum, she did not pass the exam.

It is important to note that after PhotoReading the text (but before taking the test), she rated her understanding of the material as 4.5 on a 5-point scale (5 representing a good understanding). Moreover, she estimated that she would remember approximately 68 percent of the material for the test, with a grade of C+. This high level of confidence in terms of her text comprehension would have remained unshattered had she not then taken the test – after which she rated her comprehension much lower (i.e., 2)
}}

[[File:Amy Carter and Jimmy Carter participate in a speed reading course at the White House. - NARA - 173797.jpg|thumb|[[Jimmy Carter]] and his daughter [[Amy Carter|Amy]] participate in a speed reading course.]]

In a 2016 article<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rayner |first1=Keith |last2=Schotter |first2=Elizabeth R. |last3=Masson |first3=Michael E. J. |last4=Potter |first4=Mary C. |last5=Treiman |first5=Rebecca |date=2016-01-14 |title=So Much to Read, So Little Time |journal=Psychological Science in the Public Interest |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=4–34 |doi=10.1177/1529100615623267 |pmid=26769745 |issn=1529-1006 |doi-access=free}}</ref> published in the journal of ''Psychological Science in the Public Interest'', the authors conclude there is no "magic bullet" for reading more quickly while maintaining comprehension other than to practice reading and to become a more skilled language user (e.g. through increased vocabulary). The authors proceed with debunking common speed reading techniques such as eliminating sub-vocalization, reading more than one word at a time a.k.a. grouping, using [[Rapid serial visual presentation|RSVP]] (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation), increasing [[Vision span|peripheral vision]], alternating colors for each line of text. [[Marshall McLuhan]] was initially a convert to speed reading; however, he later concluded it was only useful for tasks like "scanning [[advertising mail|junk mail]]".

U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] was a proponent of speed reading,<ref>{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy on Leadership |url=http://www.presidentialexpert.com/leadership_john_f_kennedy.html |first=Philip Ernest |last=Schoenberg |date=2000 |website=The Presidential Expert |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224041824/http://presidentialexpert.com/leadership_john_f_kennedy.html |archive-date=2009-02-24}}</ref> encouraging his staff to take lessons, and he suggested in an interview that he had a reading speed of 1,200 words per minute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/sidebars/2000/02/jfk_speedreader.html |title=JFK, Speed-Reader |first=Timothy |last=Noah |date=18 February 2000 |website=Slate |access-date=13 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210100351/http://www.slate.com/sidebars/2000/02/jfk_speedreader.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-10}}</ref> U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]], and his wife [[Rosalynn Carter|Rosalynn]], were both avid readers and enrolled in a speed-reading course at the White House,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/gallery/gal_carter_09.html |title=American Experience |date=2002 |website=[[PBS]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050908024921/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/gallery/gal_carter_09.html |archive-date=September 8, 2005}}</ref> along with several staff members.

Ronald Carver, a professor of education research and psychology, claims that the fastest college graduate readers can read only about 600 words per minute, at most twice as fast as their slowest counterparts, and suggests that Kennedy's claimed reading speed was more a measure of how fast he could skim a piece of text.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/articles/2000/02/the_1000word_dash.html |title=The 1,000-Word Dash |first=Timothy |last=Noah |author-link=Timothy Noah |date=18 February 2000 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref> Other critics have suggested that speed reading is actually skimming, not reading.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skepdic.com/speedreading.html |title=Speed-reading |first=Robert T. |last=Carroll |date=26 October 2015 |website=The Skeptic's Dictionary}}</ref>

The World Championship Speed Reading Competition stresses reading comprehension as critical. The top contestants typically read around 1,000 to 2,000 words per minute with approximately 50% comprehension or above. The six-time world champion Anne Jones is recorded for 4200 wpm with previous exposure to the material and 67% comprehension. The recorded number of words the eye can see in single [[Fixation (visual)|fixation]] is three words.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bremer |first1=Rod |title=The Manual: A Guide to the Ultimate Study Method |publisher=Fons Sapientiae Publishing |isbn=978-0-99349-640-0 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vkBywAACAAJ |year=2011}}</ref>

"Speed Reading World Record" claims have been controversial. Howard Stephen Berg from the United States has claimed to be the [[Guinness World Record]] holder for fast reading with a speed of 25,000 words per minute,<ref>{{cite web |title=Howard Berg "World's Fastest Reader" on Good Day Tampa Bay, Fox 13 Tampa, 02-16-13 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilvoigdxhzo  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Ilvoigdxhzo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|date=17 February 2013 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and Maria Teresa Calderon from the Philippines claims to have earned the Guinness World Record for World's Fastest Reader at 80,000 words per minute reading speed and 100% comprehension.<ref>{{cite web |title=World's fastest reader (80,000 words per minute) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ZLsyXYJWE  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/S6ZLsyXYJWE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|date=11 September 2013 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Critics point out that it is possible to beat some speed reading world records by reading a pre-read or pre-memorized text, flipping the pages as fast as possible without reading it. The Guinness Speed Reading World Record Standards are not known and they have terminated{{when|date=March 2019}} adding speed readers to its honor list. In 2015, ''Memoriad'', the World Mental Sports Federation, set the rules for "Speed Reading World Record Standards" in order to prevent unclear claims.<ref>{{cite web |title=Speed Reading World Record Standards |website=Memoriad.com |url=http://www.memoriad.com/index.asp?s=kategoriler&b=kategori-detay&kategoriid=22dcbcd854eaa633da9a3df588bdb010&lang=EN#a39a8d291a0e2db349fe3fc32aa201b6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Speed Reading World Record Standards - Memoriad |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8tHsrVvFBc  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/L8tHsrVvFBc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|date=9 July 2016 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>