Skimming is the fastest of five reading modes, roughly 0.13-0.14 seconds per word versus 0.22-0.35 for normal and maximal silent and aloud reading¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr1·q2
Currency · newest study 1914 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Across five reading methods, skimming was the fastest mode on average, with normal aloud the slowest. → Whipple 1914
Evidence¶
Whipple 1914¶
Whipple, G. M., & Curtis, J. N. (1914). Preliminary Investigation of Skimming in Reading. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=preliminary+investigation+of+skimming+in+reading
q2 · i? · causal · r1
Auxiliary Experiment 3 (Rates of Reading), in which five observers read eight educational reprints by each of five methods with stop-watch timing. The article reports the relative speed order with skimming fastest: "maximal silent 60, and skimming 40" relative to normal aloud as 100.
"If we take the time for normal aloud, the slowest speed, as 100, then maximal aloud would be 83, normal silent 74, maximal silent 60, and skimming 40."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Skimming rate correlates strongly with normal silent reading rate (r = +0.71) — related
- Knowing that reproduction will be demanded slows reading rate across all readers and methods — related
- Children with dyslexia read texts significantly more slowly than typical readers in both oral and silent reading — related
- Skimming speed increases across the later pages of multi-page texts — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
skimming-fastest-reading-mode |
title |
Skimming is the fastest of five reading modes, roughly 0.13-0.14 seconds per word versus 0.22-0.35 for normal and maximal silent and aloud reading |
description |
Skimming is the fastest of five reading modes, roughly 0.13-0.14 seconds per word versus 0.22-0.35 for normal and maximal silent and aloud reading |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
1914 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-24 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — whipple-1914 |
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