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The science

What the research says about speed reading.

Short version: you can read faster, but there is a trade-off. Here is what is known, and how RapidReader is built around it.

The best review of the evidence

In 2016 five reading scientists, Keith Rayner, Elizabeth Schotter, Michael Masson, Mary Potter and Rebecca Treiman, reviewed decades of research on reading and on speed-reading methods, including showing one word at a time. Their paper, So Much to Read, So Little Time: How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help?, was published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest (volume 17, issue 1).

What they found

  • The limit is understanding, not the eyes. Moving the eyes takes only a small part of reading time. Most of it goes to recognising words and making sense of them.
  • There is a trade-off between speed and comprehension. Reading faster than usual, by any method, means understanding and remembering less detail.
  • Going back helps. Readers normally glance back at words they missed. Showing one word at a time removes that, which costs comprehension, especially with difficult text.
  • Skimming works for some jobs. When you want the gist, or are looking for something, moving quickly can be the right choice.
  • Lasting gains come from reading more. A bigger vocabulary and more practice are what make people faster readers over time.

So why use RapidReader?

Because the trade-off is often worth it, and because you stay in control of it:

  • Get through the pile. Saved articles often go unread. Reading them at a brisk pace beats not reading them at all.
  • Focus. One word in one place, with the page around it gone, is easier to stay with for many people.
  • Slow down for what matters. The arrow keys change speed instantly, pauses at punctuation give sentences time to land, and View Text shows the whole page whenever you want to go back.
  • Check yourself. A quiz after reading shows what stuck, so you can find the speed that works for you.
  • Listen instead. Read to Me is there when reading isn’t what you want.

We don’t claim RapidReader makes understanding free, and we’d be wary of anything that does.

Read the paper

Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E. J., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4–34. doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267