Popular Myths About Speed Reading
There are several myths concerning speed reading that undermine community literacy either by propagating the perception that speed-reading is a bogus pseudoscience and thus constitutes a futile effort, or by presenting methodology that actually retards reading speed as speed reading. The Wood Method, otherwise known as skimming is not speed reading and actually causes major comprehension problems for readers using the method. Photo-reading in all its forms results in slower comprehension, because even if the initial scan is lightning fast, subsequent revisitations of the material in order to meet minimal comprehension requirements have been demonstrated as making the method slower than conventional reading. Both skimming and photo-reading in all their variations work only at the expense of comprehension and are probably the cause for the popular perception that speed reading impairs comprehension; yet another myth about speed reading.
The other problem with methods that force the reader to focus on issues other than comprehension is that the constant distraction with reading speed detracts from full immersion in the implicit meaning of the text and this robs the reader of the pleasure associated with seeing the idea when reading, instead of the words that describe it. This leads to the perception and consequent urban myth that speed reading is all hard work and not pleasurable. The same obsession with controlling reading speed results in attempts to dictate fixations which empirical science has long shown are physiologically involuntary! The result of this is that word group flash exercises fail to work because increases in speed due to increased phrase recognition are undermined by continual corrections to natural fixation points in the text.
The only way to gain the benefit of flash exercises is to read normally without worrying about how fast you are reading, when not doing the exercises. By all means, set a stopwatch or an alarm to test your reading speed, but keep your mind immersed in the meaning of the text and free of external distractions (such as how fast you are reading) if you want to see the improvement you've made with the exercises.
Other popular but detrimental myths include the supposition that regressions and subvocalisation must be suppressed to increase reading speed when in fact this only serves to both impair comprehension and perpetuate underlying problems such as poor vocabulary, bad reading habits such as skimming, and disruptive reading environments.
