Condensed material is nearly impossible to skim, while paragraphed material and topic-sentence-first paragraphs are easier to skim¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1914 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Skimmability depends on text structure: condensed text is hardest, paragraphing helps, and topic-sentence-first paragraphs ease skimming. → 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

Preliminary experiments comparing typewritten sheets and Bureau of Education bulletins, plus auxiliary work. The article reports skimming was easier in material where the first sentence of each paragraph was the topic sentence, and observers varied in what material they found easy to skim.

"From the preliminary experiments it was evident that condensed material is very hard—almost impossible—to skim; and that when the material is divided into paragraphs, it is easier to skim than if it is all in one paragraph."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

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