Reading, Hearing, and Thinking

[omorka]

So, a couple of Sundays ago, we were discussing how various people process text, specifically in the context of PB not having read a sign that he'd clearly seen, and then having no trouble reading it backwards. This got me somewhat curious about how different people process text . . .

[Poll #713395]

I'll discuss the results of the poll once I have enough answers to do so . . .

Comments

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

I often assign an authorial voice when I read, usually based on the gender of the author.

Less often, but especially with really good characterizations in a book, the characters will get voices of their own. A Civil Campaign did this, as did Lords and Ladies, most recently, in my reading queue.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I hear the words of the narrator in my own voice, and the characters in variations of my own voice. Sometimes characters' voices change over the course of reading a story, depending on things I learn about them over time.

I'm mostly a visual learner, but tactile or kinsthetic experience does help, especially with retention.

I never tried not to read text until you just suggested it. Apparently, I can't. ;)

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

My estimate of reading speed is a WAG -- I may be faster than that. I can certainly read an average-sized mystery novel in a single evening, 4 or 5 hours' worth of book time.

I learn different things in different ways. Music I've always been best at learning aurally; while I can read music, it comes in much faster and better by listening to someone else play or sing the piece. (Piano is the exception to this -- I can only follow a melody line and chord structure by ear.) I've taken a new filk to performance-ready from a cold start in 1 day after being given it on tape to listen to.

Learning crafts-related things is a mixture of visual and kinesthetic processes. It's much harder for me to understand written or oral instructions, but if I can see pictures or a demonstration and then try it myself, I'll generally pick it up fairly fast.

OTOH, I'm much better at following directions (written or oral) than at reading a map, unless the map is clear enough that I can (1) orient myself with respect to it, and (2) correlate it to what I'm seeing. Although Russ drives me batshit by giving me compass-based directions in unfamiliar territory at night, when I have no idea which way I'm headed!

[lolleeroberts.livejournal.com]

I don't always hear text, especially with technical and nonfiction. When I do hear text, it's in a neutral voice. I always hear poetry.

I'm primarily a visual learner but I learn physical tasks kinesthetically.

Sometimes

[asland32.livejournal.com]

I answered "Sometimes" to question #1 because it depends on the type of book I'm reading. If it is a book with heavy dialogue, and it falls into the class of "tune out the rest of the world I'm reading" I hear each individual's voice differently. My imagination fills in appropriate voices for characters based on description and context clues while naration stays in either my own or a neutral sounding voice.

[memeslayer.livejournal.com]

I hear written words in the same voice I use to talk in my head -- sort of a mental whisper, I guess?

No idea what my reading speed is.

Although I process information visually, I think I might learn better kinesthetically. Is there a test for this sort of thing?

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

I tend to do 'casting' for voices. Non-fiction generally gets a slightly British accented voice a la BBC news or PBS specials. If I know the author's voice then their writing is spoken in their own voice. i seldom read without hearing the words spoken. Often the voices are amusingly unexpected.

I often see text without reading it. this may be part of drawing and typesetting. Artists are trained to stop seeing the symbol engrams around them ('face','stop sign') and start seeing underlying form. I can draw a store sign without reading it at all!

I am primarily a visual learner, but there are significant kinesthetic and auditory tasks that are integral to my visual communication (to draw without looking you have to have very good proprioception). There are also significant tactile elements to my skill set. Heck , I suspect everybody could be well rounded in multiple learning styles if we supported it better at an early age.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

In detail:

When I read, if I know the person who wrote the message, I hear it in their voice. If I don't, it's usually a neutral voice, except for fiction. In fiction I hear the characters' lines voiced in distinct male and female tones, depending.

I can top out over 600 words per minute reading if I'm in a tearing hurry, but I miss a lot that way. For absorption, the speed is much lower.

It's hard to be a tactile learner when you're a klutz. Auditory learning is nearly as bad- it's one reason why I'm terrible with names.

When I see text- rather, when my eyes focus on text- what I can see clearly is read instantaneously. To see is to read. However, the range of vision in which I can see words clearly enough to read without moving my eyes is very, very narrow- a few words at most.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

When I read, if I know the person who wrote the message, I hear it in their voice.

That's a good point. I wasn't thinking of email. In email, and/or snail mail, I hear the sender's voice if I know them.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

You might also be interested in the ongoing discussion about being touch-dominant in an overwhelmingly visual-dominant world over in ozarque's journal. She's very good about putting the subject of the post in the headers, so you can tell which ones deal with this.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

I had no idea on reading speed, so I copied and pasted text into an editor that could give me a word count and clocked myself for 800+ words. Came in right at 300 wpm. During the reading, I was aware of sentences that I re-read if I felt I'd misread them the first time. I also think author, subject and intent of reading would play a large factor in such a metric, so I'm not sure how useful it is as a signpost in the birds-eye-view level of your poll.

I put myself down as a kinesthetic learner. I had to think about that one for a bit, but I think I retain better from DOING than just from reading or listening. I'm the kind of guy who, while perfectly comfortable reading sheet music, tended to learn choral parts by rote... so I guess that puts all three methods against each other and shows which one came out on top... While I could read the music, that wasn't enough for it to stick with me. While I could listen to the music, I still might miss some of the nuances. But when I sang the music enough times, I knew it far better.

Learning style

[perkyshai.livejournal.com]

Kinesthetic/visual, music requires aural. I can sight read, but it doesn't come together until I hear something. Not necessrily accompaniment, even a pitchpipe will do.
When it comes to processing recipes or writing, I get inspiration from smells. Writing in a coffee shop, whether I have anything to drink or not, helps production rates and focus.

Solitude doesn't necessarily help me take in info...sometimes outside noise gives me something to block out, and a way to focus on the task at hand. Wierd, but functional for me.

Question... could you chat with the Teegarden about classroom management, please? He needs functional for HISD strategies, and all my stuff is either Boy's Town or learned stuff for different district

[lasarina.livejournal.com]

If I am reading, as opposed for searching for specific informational content, I hear neutral voice. Otherwise, it's a visual search.

My speed varies depending on material. Denser material tends to be read closer to the 600-800 wpm, fluff, newspaper, etc much higher. I can do a novel in 2-3 hours, a magazine in an hour or less.

I am primarily a kinesthetic, but can operate in visual and auditory modes as well, with preference to visual except in music of course.

[cifarelli]

I can look at large blocks of text without reading it. If there's a paper in front of me with just a few words on it, or its well-spaced, it pretty much automatically gets read.

I can completely space out television, though -- particularly commercials. As in, I'll be watching a show, commercials will come on, I'll continue staring at the tv, someone in the room with me will laugh or comment on something that occured in a commercial, and I'll have *no idea* what they're talking about. It doesn't happen all the time, but pretty frequently. No idea if that's relevant, though.

Like some other commenters have said, if I'm reading an email or something that someone I know has written, I'll sometimes hear it in their voice. This is definitely a "sometimes" kind of thing, though. The rest of the time, it's a neutral voice.

I don't have any idea of my reading speed.

Re: Learning style

[omorka.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to chat with MT - just let me know a time/place y'all can get together (or, you could show up at Bagels!).