The Missing Links

Why are we able to read and understand words 
even when they are incomplete?

Many of you must have thought that counting alphabets was a cinch. But of the responses that came in showed that only 10 per cent were able to count all the Fs and fs! The first count ranged from 1 to 4. A few repeated the exercise and were astonished to note that their original count had changed to the actual tally of 6. How did this happen?

Recall the sentence :
Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of many years.
So how come you missed so many of them? The answer lies in an earlier column “...text is read not only with the eyes, but also with the “ears and lips”. The sentence in question has three instances of “of” which is phonetically pronounced “ov” and hence tends to get missed.

Let’s look at another example below. 

 Read the sentence within the triangle once. Notice anything odd. If not, read again until you do.

Going further, read the following sentence normally. Almost all words will be unusual, but let’s try anyway:
 Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Almost all the words are mis-spelt. Yet you could not only read through but understand the words as well. Once your brain adapted to the strange words it accelerated its pace without stopping at the odd words (probably being encountered for the first time). So much for spellings.

Now let’s read the following :
    _t _s _mp_rt_nt t_ _nd_rst_nd th_t n_  d_st_nct “n_rm_l” _nd “sp__d-r__d_ng” typ_s _f r__d_ng _x_st _n pr_ct_c_, s_nc_ _ll r__d_rs _s_ s_m_ _f th_ t_chn_q__s _s_d _n sp__d r__d_ng (s_ch _s _d_nt_fy_ng w_rds w_th__t f_c_s_ng _n __ch l_tt_r, n_t s__nd_ng __t _ll w_rds, n_t _rt_c_l_t_ng s_m_ phr_s_s, _r sp_nd_ng l_ss t_m_ _n s_m_ phr_s_s th_n _th_rs, _nd sk_mm_ng sm_ll s_ct__ns).
 
It is important to understand that no distinct “normal” and “speed-reading” types of reading exist in practice, since all readers use some of the techniques used in speed reading (such as identifying words without focusing on each letter, not sounding out all words, not articulating some phrases, or spending less time on some phrases than others, and skimming small sections).

Can you figure out the words? If you can, send in the complete text to graymatter@hindustantimes.com with the subject ‘vowel’.

That was an exercise in understanding the role of vowels - sounds in spoken language. In English, they are : a, e, i, o, u. Their role in reading cannot be overemphasized. Next week we’ll discuss the importance of these exercises.

That’s all for this week. We look forward to your exercising your brain on the above and sharing any one or all of your responses. Next week we’ll see the importance of these in speeding up your reading.

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Thought for the Week

“If you read a lot of books you are considered well read.
But if you watch a lot of TV,
you’re not considered well viewed.”
Lily Tomlin
(American Actress and Comedian)
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First published in Gray Matter - The Hindustan Times