Test of Reading Speed

Choose a novel or book that you are interested in and can read easily. Measure the time it takes to read five pages. Your reading speed can then be calculated using the following formula:

w.p.m. (speed) = (number of pages read) times (number of words per average page), divided by (the number of minutes spent reading).

The following online software program helps you to practice your speed reading as you surf the Net - so you always have interesting materials to use and automatically get feedback of your reading speed and progress...

 
Are you a Left-Brain Reader or a Right-Brain Reader?

Recently researches were carried out in the United States to determine the difference between a left-brain reader and a right-brain reader. A special apparatus was constructed, consisting of a television screen to present the reading material, with a cursor that the subject had to fixate upon. Eye-movements were monitored electronically, so the cursor would move when the subject moved his eyes. The equipment could be set up in two modes. In the first mode, material to the left of the cursor would blank out on the screen, if the subject attempted to move his fixation point to the right of the cursor. In the second mode, material to the right of the cursor would blank out, if the subject attempted to move his fixation point to the left of the cursor.

In the first (left-brain) mode, when words to the left of the cursor blanked out, preventing the subject from regressing or back-skipping, this duplicated the habitual pattern of a left-brain reader, who always reads one or more words ahead of a particular fixation point. In the second (right-brain) mode, when words to the right of the cursor blanked out, preventing the subject from anticipating by reading one or two words ahead of the fixation point, this duplicated the habitual pattern of a right-brain reader, who tends to re-read the words leading up to a particular fixation point.

This equipment was tested on a group of 30 subjects. When the equipment was set- up in the left-brain mode, the maximum observed average reading speed of the group was 1600 w.p.m., and when the equipment was set-up in the right-brain mode, the maximum observed average reading speed of the group was 95 w.p.m.; a difference of 17:1. Note: with material presented in the left-brain mode the average reading speed of the group was raised from 500 w.p.m. to 1600 w.p.m.; it was more than trebled.

Without the specialised equipment described above, this test is somewhat subjective, although it should give you a good indication. The steps are as follows:

1. Take a novel and read this silently whilst running your finger along the line of print as you read it.
2. Note carefully: How far are you reading ahead of your fixation point? The fixation point is determined by your finger position.
3. Do you find that it is difficult to read ahead of the fixation point? Do you find that you are holding on to the two or three words you have just read?

If the answer to 2. is yes, and you are reading ahead of the fixation point, you are a left-brain reader. If the answer to 3. is yes, and attention is drawn back to the words that you have already read, then you are a right-brain reader.