Why speed reading application does not do any good

You use your smartphone to learn to read faster? Replaced the traditional methods of popular applications? We have to disappoint you - this decision is likely to have been erroneous. And in this article you will learn why.

You use your smartphone to learn to read faster? Replaced the traditional methods of popular applications? We have to disappoint you - this decision is likely to have been erroneous.

The results of recent experiments show that even such an interesting thing as SpritzIt is not able to make the reading more effective. Why is this application actually does not work? Who will tell.

Read "War and Peace" from a smartphone is perhaps not the best idea, but it is implemented. This was due to the possibility of users Spritz application. Recently, it caused quite a stir, especially since Samsung applications for preset applications on the Galaxy S5.

Spritz the principle of operation is simple: the app divides the text into individual words and displays them on one reader, concentrating his attention on the middle of the word. Thus, the time spent in the normal reading by eye movement is minimized. The basis of this technology is the so-called method of rapid visual sequence (Rapid serial visual presentation, or RSVP). According to the developers, it can Spritz accelerates the reading process without sacrificing comprehension. You get a chance to read at speeds of up to a thousand words per minute. In this case, the screen size does not matter: the app is ideal even for small devices such as smart watches.

But a new study has shown that this idea is too good to be true. At least, if you want to understand what they read. Indeed, it is worth trying to change the fundamental cognitive processes for the sake of some gadgets?

Even if you would use Spritz just read tweets, you would not understand the message as clearly as in the unhurried and thoughtful reading of 140 characters.

Elizabeth Schotter

Elizabeth Schotter, scientist, psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, brought together 40 volunteers from among students and conducted a little experiment. She watched, will reduce the level of understanding of the text, if prevent involuntary return of the eye to certain passages - this process is called regression. It occupies about 10-15% of reading time.

Results of the study were as follows. In normal reading students' level of understanding of the text remained the same regardless of whether the regression is fixed or not. This confirms that our eyes sometimes need a second look at a fragment of his understanding. When words quickly followed each other and participants in the experiment were not to return to them, understanding the text worse. This effect was observed at the reading as very simple sentences, and convoluted sentences. "The results of our experiments demonstrate that the reader is very important to control the movement of their eyes for reading comprehension" - the author writes.

Spritz has become one of the most talked about attempts to use RSVP method. With him still have experimented since 1970, however, the application for speed reading talking recently - because of the need for new methods for reading on small screens. Now on the Internet you can find another service with the same functionality on the Spritz, which is called Spreeder.

A spokeswoman for the company-developer Spritz Lowell Eschen argues that nobody has been able to reproduce the working principle of this application exactly. After all, only Spritz selects the optimum point of each word recognition. It becomes a kind of pointer to the eye and helps the brain to quickly decipher what he saw. Spritz the creators presented the technology as "a new perspective on reading." According to them, the team worked on it for three years and can provide any proof of their scientific research.

Elizabeth Schotter, author of the experiments described above, does not believe that the marketing claims. "They claim that they are doing science, but in fact has never shown this - says Schotter. - Spritz creators have committed no revolution. Perhaps they are only slightly improved the method of the RSVP, but it is still not effective. "

And you use this app? Can we call it an effective tool to speed reading? Share your experiences in the comments.