Reading speed
In general, reading speed means the speed at which someone reads given texts aloud or silently. The more familiar the texts are and the less complex the required articulation, the faster a person can read the texts. In addition to these intra-individual differences, there are considerable inter-individual differences in reading speed.
Reading letters
In information psychology, a simple, standardized reading test is used to measure the speed of information processing in terms of bit / s by means of reading speed . It is the sub-test “reading letters” from the short test for general basic quantities in information processing (KAI). The test person (test person, patient) should read a line of 20 stochastically independently drawn letters on a card as quickly as possible, half aloud.
- Example: zngetrkwnopmqfcavkl m.
Each letter has 4.7 - 5 bits of information because it has to be recognized from the repertoire of 26 German letters and because this recognition process takes place in binary decisions. The total of 20 × 5 bits = 100 bits are divided by the measured reading time. At 6.7 s it is 100 bit / 6.7 s = 15 bit / s. This corresponds to the maximum performance of an average German adult. In order to reduce measurement errors, four rows prepared according to this pattern are specified. The best performance counts. The speed of articulation does not matter if no letters are spoken as polysilver.
Practical meaning
As experiments show, the reading test "reading letters" determines - apart from measurement errors - the same values of information processing speed as reading digits, numbers or even musical notes, multiple stimulus reaction measurements, etc. Accordingly, measurements of this kind provide a general basis for information processing. Further studies show that this variable is related to the level of fluid intelligence : someone with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 115 has a significantly higher reading speed than someone with an IQ 100 or even an IQ 80.
Biopsychic influencing variables
Reading speed decreases with mental performance losses due to high blood pressure, normal deviations in the sugar level (for example with diabetes), with dementia syndromes, but also with decreasing sensory capacity and mental deficiencies ( excessive or insufficient demands) in everyday life. By eliminating such causes, it increases again. The speed of information processing increases in the case of adult hearing impaired people who receive their first hearing aid. In this context, their reading speed also increases: "If you can hear better again, you will read faster".
Reading texts
The reading of texts differs essentially from the letters read as a good reader is capable of very frequent short words from the blurring of peripheral vision and words of medium frequency as a whole, d. H. to recognize with "one" eye fixation .
- Adults who are inexperienced readers and do not need to read for work read about 100 words per minute.
- The average reading speed is around 150 words per minute.
- An average, skilled reader can capture around 200 to 300 words per minute (WPM), provided the text to be read is not overly complicated.
- Fast readers create up to 1000 words per minute.
- Scientifically proven records are between 3,000 and 4,000 words per minute.
| Reader type | Reading speed | understanding |
|---|---|---|
| Slow readers | 10-100 wpm | 30-50% |
| Average reader | 200-240 wpm | 50-70% |
| Good readers | around 400 WpM | 70-80% |
| about 1% of the population | 800-1000 wpm | > 80% |
| approx. 1 ‰ of the population | > 1000 WpM |
According to a study by Jakob Nielsen , the reading speed of printed books is higher than that of electronic books. The basis was a study with 24 regular book readers and first-generation Apple iPads and Amazon Kindle 2 .
See also
literature
- Siegfried Lehrl and Bernd Fischer: A basic information psychological parameter (BIP) for the reconstruction of concepts of intelligence. European Journal of Personality 4, 1990, p. 259-286 . ( [1] ).
- Siegfried Lehrl, Reinhold Funk and Klaus Seifert: The first hearing aid increases mental performance. ENT, 2005, p. 53, 852-862 .
- Siegfried Lehrl, Adolf Gallwitz, Lothar Blaha and Bernd Fischer: Intellectual performance. Theory and measurement of biological intelligence with the short test KAI. 2nd Edition. Vless, Ebersberg 1992, ISBN 3-88562-041-3 .
- Hans-Werner Hunziker : In the eye of the reader: foveal and peripheral perception - from spelling to reading pleasure . Transmedia Verlag Stäubli AG, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-7266-0068-6 .
- Christian Peirick: Rational Reading Techniques - Read Faster - Keep More . 4th edition. KH Bock Verlag, Honnef 2013, ISBN 978-3-86796-086-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Werner Hunziker: In the eye of the reader: foveal and peripheral perception - from spelling to reading pleasure . Transmedia, Stäubli Verlag, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-7266-0068-6 .
- ^ Stanford E. Taylor: Eye Movements in Reading: Facts and Fallacies . tape 2 , no. 4 . American Educational Research Association, 1965, pp. 187-202 .
- ^ Karin Landerl: Reading speed test (national and international) . In: G. Haider and B. Lang (eds.): PISA PLUS 2000 . Studien Verlag, Innsbruck 2001, p. 119-130 .
- ^ Study of reading speed of e-books versus print . Retrieved July 7, 2010, 3 p.m.
- ^ Report on the study by Jakob Nielsen at macwelt.de . Retrieved July 7, 2010, 3 p.m.