The impact of reading at rapid rates on inference generation |
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| Authors: | W Matthew Collins Frances Daniel |
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| Affiliation: | Nova Southeastern University, USA This research was supported in part by a Nova Southeastern University President's Faculty and Development Research Grant to W. Matthew Collins. The authors contributed equally to the study and would like to thank Anil Sawh, Stefanie Mockler and Angela Phillips for their assistance with all phases of the project. |
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| Abstract: | Aims Speed reading is advertised as a way to increase reading speed without any loss in comprehension. However, research on speed reading has indicated that comprehension suffers as reading speed increases. We were specifically interested in how processes of inference generation were affected by speed reading. Methods We examined how reading speed influenced inference generation in typical readers, trained speed readers and participants trained to skim read passages. Passages either strongly or weakly promoted a bridging or predictive inference. After reading, participants performed a lexical decision task on either a nonword, neutral or inference‐related word. Results Typical readers responded to strong and weak inference words faster than neutral words. There were no statistical differences in reaction time between inference‐related and neutral words for speed and skim readers. Conclusions These findings provide no substantive evidence that the appropriate inferences are generated when reading at rapid speeds. Thus, speed reading may be detrimental to normal integrative comprehension processes. |
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