How Good Are Some of the World's Best Readers?
Ronald P. Carver · Reading Research Quarterly · 1985
THE READING rate and comprehension of superior readers were investigated. A total of 16 individuals represented four superior reading groups: speed readers, professionals, college students, and people who score exceptionally high on tests. Reading tests were administered individually during 8.5 hours spread over three testing sessions. All four groups tended to read relatively easy material at rates around 300-600 words per minute when at least 75 % comprehension was required. The speed-reading group had the best score for writing a 100word summary of a 6,000-word book administered under a 1,500 word per minute condition. However, the speed-reading group did not write the best summaries at any of the other rates, 375, 6,000, or 24,000 words per minute, and they were the worst at recalling the book's important details at all four rates. Speed readers seem to be quite similar in ability to other superior readers except that they typically choose to skim at rates higher than 1,000 words per minute and accept the lowered comprehension that accompanies skimming.