# Speed reading test online **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215 "2014-02-13T03:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/1 "2014-02-13T03:12:52Z")
> **[Take This Simple Test To Find Out If You're A Speed Reader](https://www.businessinsider.com/speed-reader-test-2014-2)** > > Staples' eReader Research Center test tells you how many words you can read per minute. I took it three times - results were 586, 1068 and 1136. I guess the first time I wasn’t trying 🙂 It’s a nice vanity test I guess, but I don’t think it’s very accurate. I would think you’d need at least 3-4 pages worth to make it more valid. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/2 "2014-02-13T03:23:48Z")
Ah I didn’t notice - they do have an option button that allows you to make it longer. On max setting, I got only 806 wpm. But 6/6 answers. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/3 "2014-02-13T03:39:38Z")
Due to the fact that I knew the passage as soon as I saw it was happening in Woking…I cheated the test and clicked finished. I was also able to cheat the answers, because I knew them. The War of the Worlds is a classic. They should have used something a little more obscure. 2688 a minute. I tried reading it word by word and came up with 860, but that was by honestly reading word by word. Most people who are good with reading tend to just recognize words and don’t focus on each one. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/4 "2014-02-13T04:05:48Z")
3,303 wpm, but I already know I’m fast. I was taught in speed reading to never focus on each word. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/5 "2014-02-13T13:33:16Z")
I scored a bit above “college professor” – nice, since I happen to be one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/6 "2014-02-13T14:21:42Z")
I took the instructions as given (read at your natural speed; do not skim) and got 906. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/7 "2014-02-13T18:12:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I took the instructions as given (read at your natural speed; do not skim) and got 906. :dubious:That’s a bit like testing how fast you can run the 100m dash, but being told “move at your natural pace, do not run”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/8 "2014-02-13T18:30:50Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > :dubious:That’s a bit like testing how fast you can run the 100m dash, but being told “move at your natural pace, do not run”. Only if you take the exercise as a race, I suppose. I thought it was supposed to be a test measuring your “natural” pace, but perhaps it isn’t, as the headline does make it out to be a “speed reading” test. In that case, I don’t know, as I thought speed reading involved skimming. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/9 "2014-02-13T18:56:59Z")
I took it twice. The first time I got 570 WPM and the second time I got 727 wpm. The weird thing is that I didn’t think I knew the answers to some of the questions but I got them all right so some part of my brain was registering the answers. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/10 "2014-02-13T21:13:00Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![SuperSmartAlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@SuperSmartAlex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperSmartAlex)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/11 "2014-02-13T21:15:01Z")
I got 3104 (admittedly, I was speed reading). When I tried reading normally, I got 1304. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/12 "2014-02-14T01:57:34Z")
Given that movies are displayed at 24fps, how is it possible that you can read/scan words at twice this rate? ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/13 "2014-02-14T03:19:30Z")
**chacoguy** from what I understand about how it works, and I could be VERY wrong, is that once your brain is comfortable with reading, you don’t actually read the words. Your brain recognizes the shapes of the words. That makes it much faster. Just think about how fast your eyes process data. Its kind of like how you probably don’t read stop signs to know to stop at them. You just do it because your brain recognizes the shape and color of the sign while you are driving (which is a huge multitasking job) and you automatically adjust for it. Reading retention is a funny thing. The last time I read the War of the Worlds was when I was in college. I can’t tell you the name of the class, or the exact year I took that class, but I can tell you what happened in the next couple of pages after that passage. Well, I would if I could remember how to put stuff in a spoiler box. I wouldn’t want to ruin the story for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/14 "2014-02-14T05:25:24Z")
I was a fast reader as a kid, but either I slowed down or I just never got faster. If I am reading for enjoyment, I like to read most of the words. I also re-read bits I like or didn’t quite catch the first time, and skip around the page. That style puts me at about 450. A quicker but still enjoyable pace puts me around 650. I wish I could speed-read for technical stuff, but it is hard to force myself to absorb things I’m not interested in. I have always gotten high scores on standardized tests, but I seem to be below average at moving from one thing to the next. I am also bad at multi-tasking and taking in a lot of information at once. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/15 "2014-02-14T07:24:07Z")
It might be my ADHD (Inattentive type), but I’ve never been able to speed read or skim. I mean, I CAN (my eyeballs can make the right movements :p), but my brain will get side tracked juuust enough so I’m still reading, but I won’t retain more than maybe a quarter of it. I need to consciously slow down and focus on just reading. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/16 "2014-02-14T19:17:44Z")
Harrumph. I scored 377. I read all the freaking time. I have a Ph.D. in the social sciences. I write a lot in my profession. I guess I just do it really, really slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/17 "2014-02-14T20:37:20Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Harrumph. I scored 377. I read all the freaking time. I have a Ph.D. in the social sciences. I write a lot in my profession. I guess I just do it really, really slowly. I don’t see the point in reading really fast most of the time. It’s like eating or having sex. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-reading-test-online/681215/18 "2014-02-14T21:05:32Z")
My family pushed this on me - they were quite excited. I did it three times and got around 2500 - 3000, but yes, I speed read. I didn’t take a course, I just read so much when I was a kid, I picked it up.