Five Pillars of Reading and Comprehension
Content
Introduction
Before we try to understand the five pillars of Reading and Comprehension, we must know how much accuracy we already have in Reading and Comprehension. We were discussing this previously about 100% accuracy. Let us see if your present skill is nearer to 100% or not. Take the test below to learn about yourself.
By understanding the pillars of reading and comprehension and by doing the exercises given below, you can improve your efficiency. Consequently, there will be a reduction in your effort, and you will save a lot of time.
There are five pillars, instead of four, that enable training in Reading and Comprehension. Each of these pillars will have exercises for us to know how exactly these mechanisms work in our brains. Many times we assume that these skills are there, but until these are practiced it becomes difficult to use them. All these are specific abilities and skills that can be trained, nurtured, and perfected.
The following video demonstrates how these pillars are applied in real life. These pillars
are necessary for not only reading but also visual acuity.
Let us go through each of the five pillars: Tracking, Saccade, Eye Movement, Scanning,
and Parallel Processing.
PILLAR 1: TRACKING
The boxes you counted in the test above measure TRACKING.
Tracking is the visual acuity for the maintenance of continuity for a longer period. Cognitive aspects like cortical arousal, scanning, and attention are very crucial for tracking.
Tracking helps you to move your eyes comfortably from one line to another while reading
without skipping any line.
Losing track leads to a lack of comprehension.
Maintenance of continuity
Tracking happens not only between lines but also between words. Let us say you finish reading a line, you then have to go to the next line. Or let’s say, we have to move from
sentence to sentence?
Initially, we don't find difficulty in tracking lines and sentences but especially when we
come to the middle of the paragraph, we start losing track. We will be wondering whether we read the sentence or not and we will have to go back and reread the sentence to confirm that we have not missed it.
Our eyes move faster than our finger
Some people tend to use a pencil or a finger to track their reading. Some even use their finger while reading on the computer screen. This slows down the reading because
the speed with which the finger or pencil can move is slower than the eye movement.
When we use an aid to track our reading, the brain will be more concerned about finger
movement than comprehending what is read. While the latter function is controlled by the sensory area of the brain, we will be straining ourselves by using the motor area. Thus, the brain is more bothered about keeping track rather than processing information.
Missing lines
What we must be able to do is to read comfortably so that we get the information without mistakes. In the test above though initially, you didn't have difficulty. As you near the middle part, there were chances of losing track. This is what happens while we are reading. These are unknown factors because we don't notice them in real life.
Once we skip
a line, we are not sure of what we have read earlier and we have to go back
several times to check we have understood the previous sentence correctly.
Hence, despite spending so much time and energy on reading, we remain confused
about the information we have received.
Though
physically we read, the reading doesn't get converted to valuable information.
Switching
our gaze
Another
application of tracking is when we switch our gaze while reading. Coming back
to where we have stopped becomes so difficult that we feel lost. If we don't
know where we are at present it is difficult to find out where we should
proceed.
Suppose we
have to close the book, we feel we should mark the sentence we have completed
reading. Otherwise, we lose track.
So, tracking
is an essential skill to master if we have to improve upon our reading and
comprehension. Watch the following video to know more about tracking.
Let us do
some exercises to nurture our tracking capability.
Exercise 1:
Count how many lines are there.
Exercise 2:
Count how many lines are covered by the diagram. If the size of the diagram is
increased one and a half times, then how many more lines will it cover?
Exercise 3: Count the number of lines.
Exercise 4:
Count how many lines are there.
Exercise 5:
Count how many lines are there. You can also count the number of boxes.
PILLAR 2:
SACCADE
The words written in the corners
were for measuring SACCADE.
A saccade is
not a very well-known concept though its importance can’t be overruled. Saccade
helps you to switch your gaze from one point to another without wasting time (in
milliseconds) in between the transit.
A saccade is
shifting our eyes from one object to another within a minimum time and putting the
least effort into doing so. Vigilance,
eye coordination, and eye movement are some of the cognitive aspects that are
trained here.
Shifting
our gaze
A saccade is
used by students while copying what is written on the board or copying from the
textbook or any other book. Saccade can be effectively used while studying a
diagram. Usually, we tend to ignore the diagram and just study the text. We think
that we can see the diagram later. Such an approach can't give us a
comprehensive understanding of the diagram. In case we use saccade we can
switch over very fast from the text to the diagram. Each part gets mentioned
and its explanation is given in the text. It is always better to go through
them alternatively.
Not only saccade
but also tracking is used when we copy something. We stop writing somewhere in
the middle, go to the source, read it, and come back and continue with our
writing.
The lesser
the amount of time spent between saccades, the greater the comprehension, and
the faster will be our reading.
We can
see things in a fraction of a second
Technically,
we can visualize things in one-tenth of a second. The following video demonstrates
how this is possible. While reading, there is no need to read each letter in a
word. A word can be read in its entirety. Only when we learn, do we need to go
through a word letter by letter. Once learning is over, we can take in the word
as a whole.
We can also
read small sentences in a fraction of a second. This is also demonstrated in
the video above.
Let us do
some exercises to nurture our saccade.
Exercise 1: Switch
your gaze from the diagram to the text as fast as possible. Especially look into
the area that is marked red.
Exercise 2: Use
the following video to train yourself in improving your saccade.
Count how many RED color bits
are there.
Count how many BLUE color bits
are there.
Count how many GREEN color bits
are there.
Count how many YELLOW color bits
are there.
Count how many WHITE color bits
are there.
Count how many ORANGE color bits are there.
Exercise 3: Use
the following video to improve your saccade.
Count how many BLUE color bits
are there.
Count how many RED color bits
are there.
Count how many GREEN color bits
are there.
Count how many YELLOW color bits are there.
Exercise 4: Use
the following video to improve your saccade.
Identify the colors when they
are together – BLUE & WHITE
Identify the colors when they
are together – ORANGE & WHITE
Identify the colors when they
are together – BLUE & GREEN
Identify the colors when they
are together – GREEN & WHITE
Identify the colors when they
are together – ORANGE & RED
Identify the colors when they
are together – WHITE & YELLOW
Identify the colors when they
are together – BLUE & RED
Identify the colors when they
are together – BLUE & ORANGE
Identify the colors when they
are together – GREEN & YELLOW
Identify the colors when they
are together – ORANGE & YELLOW
Identify the colors when they
are together – GREEN & RED
Identify the colors when they
are together – RED & YELLOW
Identify the colors when they
are together – RED & WHITE
Identify the colors when they
are together – BLUE & YELLOW
Identify the colors when they are together – GREEN & ORANGE
Exercise 5: Use
the following video to improve your saccade.
You have to read the word as you
see it. Please do not vocalize or sub-vocalize each word.
Two words will be presented simultaneously in the opposite corner. Try to read both of them. It will become very fast as you progress in training.
PILLAR 3:
EYE MOVEMENT
When the camera focuses on the crowd, we can experience the EYE MOVEMENT.
Eye Movement
helps you in moving your eyes smoothly over what you are reading, without any
jerks.
Moving our
eyes and obtaining accurate feedback from such movement determines our efficiency
in reading. Muscular control of the eye
corresponding to the movement outside us is necessary to increase the cognitive
functions of the brain.
Moving
eyes smoothly
When eyes
move smoothly, the muscular strain is lesser. This ensures that you can read
for a long period without getting either tired or bored.
If we can see
a movie for two and a half hours continuously, we can also read continuously,
without any breaks, provided we are trained in moving our eyes.
The following
video explains clearly the advantages of faster and smoother eye movement. We
must judge the speeds with which our eyes move and judge the distance our eyes
have traveled.
No head
Movement
Even small
head movement distorts the imagery in the brain. It is essential to keep the
head static as much as possible.
Some people
move their heads while reading and it appears as though they are watching a
tennis match. The lesser the head movement the better the comprehension. So,
practice only moving the eyes and keeping your head movement to almost nil.
Exercise 1: Use
the following video to improve your eye movement.
Try to move your eyes slowly and
follow the color bit as it moves. The speed will increase as it progresses.
Identify the number assigned to
each movement. It starts from the slowest to the fastest. Try to observe the
speed and remember that you shall have to identify the correct speed regarding
the number. 1 is the slowest and 10 is the fastest.
Try to identify the correct speed of the movement of the color bit. Note down the number of the speed in your book and cross-check with the answer after every trial. Keep practicing until you get all the 20 right.
Exercise 2: Use
the following video to improve your eye movement.
These are five paths starting from left to right.
A ball moves along the path. Study these movements carefully. You will have an
opportunity to observe all five paths.
In the next sequence, the ball moves in a particular path without the presence of the path. You have to judge which path the movement belongs to. Write in your notebook the series of paths one below the other.
Exercise 3: Use
the following video to improve your eye movement.
Five paths are starting from left to right.
Study these carefully as you will later see a ball moving along one of the
paths, without the presence of the path. You have to observe the path and judge
which of the five paths the ball has taken. Similarly, you have to complete all
five paths.
Exercise 4: Use
the following video to improve your eye movement.
Let us consider that we have to observe a series of letters and numbers. These letters and numbers are moving. Can we read them clearly by moving our eyes fast?
Exercise 5: Use
the following picture to improve your eye movement.
Begin with ‘start’ and try to trace the line without using any aids. Your eye has to move very fast so that you can complete it early. Keep noting down the time taken by you to trace the path and keep decreasing your time in each trial.
PILLAR 4:
SCANNING
The jumbled letters interspersed
with words were used to measure SCANNING.
Scanning
helps you to obtain only relevant information and filter out unnecessary noises
(information that is not needed). These exercises help in fine-tuning
comprehension.
Filtering out what is not necessary for us
Suppose you
go to a party. Everybody will be talking. Does it mean that you can't hear what
your friend is saying? You can certainly hear. If we can do that there, we can
do it here.
Usually,
people say that they need a quiet environment when they are studying. They
don't expect the same when attending a party, driving in a busy street, or
dining in an overcrowded restaurant.
Distinguishing
between noise and sound.
How we can
focus our attention becomes an important factor here. What we are reading
becomes the focus and all other things become noise.
Scanning is
easy when the eyes are fixated on a spot. If you chase a word, then you will be
losing a lot. If we have to keep our brains sharp, then we need to send the
information at an average speed. Too slow or too fast becomes noise.
For example,
we use scanning when searching for a lost key. We will not look anywhere and
everywhere. We will have a mental picture of where we could have lost the key
and scan in those places only.
The advantage
of learning to scan is that, while reading we come across so many words (adjectives,
prepositions, pronouns, articles, etc.) that are unnecessary to register. If we
can learn to skip these words and focus on only important concepts and terms we
would have cut down the noise to a great extent.
The following video explains these aspects further.
Exercise 1: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Scan for three-lettered words.
Exercise 2: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Scan for four-lettered words.
Exercise 3: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Scan for four-lettered words.
Exercise 4: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Scan for five-lettered words.
Exercise 5: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Scan for five-lettered words.
PILLAR 5:
PARALLEL PROCESSING
Searching for errors in
alphabets (reversed) and multiples of three was used to measure PARALLEL
PROCESSING.
Parallel
Processing helps you in the simultaneous processing of visual information.
Processing
complex information
During our
studies, we need to associate, recognize, recall and process very complicated
information without getting confused.
How do we do it? Is it possible for our brain to retain several types of
information and retrieve them whenever we need it?
Visual
information can vary in color, movement, depth, and shape. We are dealing with
multiple sources and different kinds of information taken simultaneously. Analyzing
this information simultaneously is parallel processing. This helps retain
information longer. The brain works faster and more efficiently.
One of the
best examples comes from comics. A character is depicted with dialogue. The
action done by the character is processed along with the text so that we can
use parallel processing easily. Analyzing a graph, a picture, or a diagram is a
result of parallel processing.
Information
overload is always there coming from both external and internal sources. During
reading, if we can create images of what we are reading instead of going
through the material passively, we will be using parallel processing.
The following video explains the process.
Exercise 1: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Match the name and the color. Count how many times they appear
together.
Two colors
Three colors
Four colors
Five colors
Exercise 2: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Out of the following six colors, one color will be missing in each
trial. You have to identify the missing color. The colors are Red, Blue, Green,
Yellow, White, and Orange.
Exercise 3: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Out of the five colors, blue, orange, green, white, and red, one
color will appear inside the red box. Identify how many times the 'RED' color
appears.
Count how many times red appears in the left box and green appears in the right box
Exercise 4: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Count how many times white appears in the left box and yellow appears in the right box. Now the two colors appear simultaneously. Thus, if both appear together in the appropriate place you have to count twice or else only once.
Exercise 5: Use
the following video to improve your scanning.
Match the name and the color. Count how many times they appear together.
Two colors
Three colors
Four colors
Five colors
How to
adopt these pillars
The five
pillars are Tracking, Saccade, Eye Movement, Scanning, and Parallel Processing.
Tracking
happens when we follow letter by letter, word by word, line by line, sentence
by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, and even page by page.
A Saccade becomes important when reading a
diagram and text alternatively, reading a newspaper,
making a presentation, reading a byline, reading a legend, watching a game or
sport, etc.
In addition
to reading, we use eye movement especially when we watch a movie, follow any
kind of action, or play a video game.
Scanning is
done while searching for a particular word, heading, phrase, book, etc.
Through
parallel processing, we can understand concepts, build constructs, ascribe
meaning, and engage in complex manipulation of information.
All the
exercises given above not only help you in the measurement but also train you
systematically in Reading and Comprehension.
As we saw, it
only takes less than 1/10th of a second to read a word, we should try to use
the rest of the time (2 minutes and 9/10th of a second) to analyze the
information.
Convert the
information you are receiving into imagery or something tangible.
Keep
practicing whenever you have time.
Combine all five
pillars to read and comprehend efficiently.
Make sure
there is an improvement in your reading speed and accuracy.
Next: Eight Mistakes in Reading and Comprehension
What are Reading and Comprehension?
64 Nava Vidya or 64 New Skills
Please do not include any spam links in the comment box.