Psychological Science in the Public Interest 2016, Vol. 17(1) 4–34 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1529100615623267 pspi.sagepub.com Introduction One day in 2007, six-time World Speed Reading Champion Anne Jones sat down in a popular bookstore on Charring Cross Road, London, and devoured the latest Harry Potter book in about 47 minutes (World Speed Reading Council, 2008). That worked out to a reading rate of over 4,200 words per minute (wpm). She then summarized the book for some British news sources. Another speed-reading enthusiast and promoter, Howard Berg, professes to be able to read as many as 30,000 wpm (World's Fastest Reader on Pelosi Bill, 2011). Reading rates of this kind seem extraordi- nary, given that college-educated adults who are considered good readers usually move along at about 200 to 400 wpm. Given the immense volume of text available to us on a daily basis, it is unsurprising that most people would like to increase their reading rates to that of Jones or Berg. But is this possible? Some people suggest that it is: Proponents of speed-reading courses claim that we can dramatically increase our reading speed without sacrificing our understanding of the content by learning to take in more visual information at a single glance and by suppressing the inner speech that often occurs when we read silently. And now that text can be pre- sented more dynamically, on digital devices as opposed to paper, there are claims that new methods of text presentation can allow us to read more quickly and with good understanding. The most popular of these technologies presents words rapidly one at a time on a computer screen using what is called rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The claim is that, freed from the need to move our eyes, we can read more quickly than we normally would. Other technologies manipulate the 623267PSI XX X 10.1177/1529100615623267Rayner et al.How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help? research-article 2015 Corresponding Author: Elizabeth R. Schotter, Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109 E-mail: eschotter@ucsd.edu †In memoriam. So Much to Read, So Little Time: How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help? Keith Rayner 1† , Elizabeth R. Schotter 1 , Michael E. J. Masson 2 , Mary C. Potter 3 , and Rebecca Treiman 4 1 Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego; 2 Department of Psychology, University of Victoria; 3 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and 4 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis Summary The prospect of speed reading—reading at an increased speed without any loss of comprehension—has undeniable appeal. Speed reading has been an intriguing concept for decades, at least since Evelyn Wood introduced her Reading Dynamics training program in 1959. It has recently increased in popularity, with speed-reading apps and technologies being introduced for smartphones and digital devices. The current article reviews what the scientific community knows about the reading process—a great deal—and discusses the implications of the research findings for potential students of speed-reading training programs or purchasers of speed-reading apps. The research shows that there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy. It is unlikely that readers will be able to double or triple their reading speeds (e.g., from around 250 to 500–750 words per minute) while still being able to understand the text as well as if they read at normal speed. If a thorough understanding of the text is not the reader’s goal, then speed reading or skimming the text will allow the reader to get through it faster with moderate comprehension. The way to maintain high comprehension and get through text faster is to practice reading and to become a more skilled language user (e.g., through increased vocabulary). This is because language skill is at the heart of reading speed. Keywords reading, speed reading, eye movements, rapid serial visual presentation, word recognition, comprehension at WASHINGTON UNIV PARENT on August 2, 2016 psi.sagepub.com Downloaded from