Speed reading techniques: the problems caused by visual regression and how to eliminate them
Visual regression is a common problem among readers. It can slow down your reading speed and cause numerous comprehension problems. Many people have visual regression without realizing it. Fortunately, it’s an easy problem to fix. This article will explain visual regression and its problems, and provide you with an easy solution that you can put into practice right away.
During reading, do you often have to repeat words in order to understand what you are reading? This is visual regression. You are going back or reading the same word or phrases repeatedly until your brain understands the meaning of the sentence. Let me give you a specific example.
Here is a very simple sentence: “the man sat on a bench while watching the baseball game.” People with visual regression would read this sentence differently. I’ll reproduce what their brains are doing by breaking down each group they read on a separate line:
Tea
The man
the man sat down
The man sat on
The man sat on a
The men sat down on a bench.
The men sat on a bench while
The men sat on a bench as they watched
The men sat on a bench as they watched a
The men sat on a bench while looking at a baseball.
The men sat on a bench while they watched a baseball game.
You can see how an individual reading this way would read at a much slower pace. Not everyone repeats every word like I did in my example. They can read a few words together and then move on to another group and then repeat both groups. Regardless of the severity of your visual regression, you definitely want to eliminate it. Let me share a simple solution that you can start using right away.
One of the easiest ways to eliminate this troublesome problem is to use your hands while reading. As you move your hand across the page, have your eyes follow it. This will make your brain see larger chunks of text as a unit. It will also allow you to continually scan for new information. As you move your hand, keep your eyes moving forward. Do not reread anything you have already seen in the text. This simple action can completely eliminate any regression issues you are experiencing while reading. It’s easy to do and it will also help you increase your reading speed. Give it a try and I’m sure you’ll find it useful to solve your problem.