Web skimming may be a kind of literacy but it's not the kind that matters most. In this article, the author contends that web skimming indicates a decline of literacy. The author discusses research conducted by Jakob Nielsen, a Web researcher, on how users skim web pages. He shows how the web is damaging the right way to read.

Is Skim reading effective? How do readers allocate their attention selectively? The authors report 3 experiments that use expository texts and allow readers only enough time to read half of each document. Experiment 1 found that, relative to reading half the text, skimming improved memory for important ideas from a text but did not improve memory…

Suggests that learning to skim reading materials is an important study skill. (RB)

Findings indicate that, when skimming, readers find it difficult to perceptually select from a passage information that is relevant to their goal in skimming. There was a reaction time advantage for verification of gist-relevant information as opposed to details, which tended to increase with reading rate. (Author/PN)

Teaching skimming techniques in a college compensatory reading course helped students gain in both speed and comprehension skills. (MKM)

After analyzing 40 speed reading texts, a study concluded that in order for these books to accurately reflect the empirical reading research they should recognize the upper limits of genuine reading (300 to 600 wpm) and limit the recommended area of eye fixation to three or fewer words. (SRT)

A study was devised to determine whether internal reading flexibility would be manifested by individual proficient readers, operating in the "rauding" mode (typical reading manner), and observed in a natural setting reading passages from textbook materials. Reading times were examined using both number of standard words and number of…

The purpose of this study was to either confirm or refute the claim of the producer of the Time-Life Video Tape Speed Reading system that improved speed would be independent of the time interval between the eight individual taped lessons. The English department at the Southern Technical Institute (Georgia) offered a speed reading course in three…

Reviews materials on speed reading located in the ERIC data base. (MKM)

Reports on changes initiated to assist college students with less than adequate reading skills. (AEA)

Describes a study that compared the reading efficiency at three different reading rates of five rapid readers and two control groups. Reports that the rapid readers demonstrated superiority in rate and comprehension in free recall situations. (FL)

Two experiments were conducted to examine differences in word-recognition processes between third-grade and college students. Results suggested that children make more predominant use of phonological recoding to obtain lexical access than do adults. (Author/MP)

A study examined the influence of the computer management feature of a commercially prepared speed reading software package on the reading rate and attitudes of college students towards computers as instructional tools. Subjects, 66 college freshman from lower-middle to middle socio-economic brackets (and divided into control and experimental…

Reports that reading rate gains that may have been derived from a film-aided speed reading course were not retained when the subjects encountered difficult reading material. (FL)

Reports an investigation of the effectiveness of "Speedway: The Action Way to Read" in increasing the reading rate and efficiency of adult readers. (FL)