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The PX Project: How to Read 300%
Faster in 20 Minutes
This article is a condensed overview of
principles taught to undergraduates of Princeton
University in 1998 at the PX Project in Princeton,
New Jersey. The PX Project, a single 3-hour
cognitive experiment, produced an average increase
in reading speed and efficiency (RE) of
386%.
The PX Protocol was tested with 6
languages, and even dyslexics were conditioned to
read technical material at over 3,000
words-per-minute (wpm), or 10 pages per minute and
one page every 6 seconds. By comparison, the
average reading speed in the US is 200-300 wpm
(1/2 to 1 page per minute), with the top 1% of the
population reading over 400 wpm.
Increasing reading speed is a process of
controlling fine motor movement-period. If you
understand the principles of the human visual
system, you can eliminate inefficiencies and
increase speed while improving data assimilation
and comprehension.
Before you read this article, you
will need: a book of 200+ pages that can
lay flat when open, a pen, and a timer (a timed
alarm is ideal). You should complete the 20
minutes of exercises in one session.
First, several definitions and distinctions
specific to the reading process:
A) Synopsis: You must minimize the
number and duration of fixations per line to
increase speed. You do not read in a
straight line, but rather in a sequence of
saccadic movements (jumps). Each of these saccades
ends with a fixation, or a temporary snapshot of
the text within you focus area (approx. the size
of a quarter at 8" from reading surface). Each
fixation will last ¼ to ½ seconds in the untrained
subject. To demonstrate this, close one eye, place
a fingertip on top of that eyelid, and then slowly
scan a straight horizontal line with your other
eye-you will feel distinct and separate movements
and periods of fixation.
B) Synopsis: You must eliminate
regression and back-skipping to increase speed
The untrained subject engages in
regression (conscious rereading) and back-skipping
(subconscious rereading via misplacement of
fixation) for up to 30% of total reading
time.
C) Synopsis: You must use
conditioning drills to increase horizontal
peripheral reading and number of words registered
per fixation.
Untrained subjects use
central focus but not horizontal peripheral vision
span during reading, foregoing up to 50% of their
words per fixation (the number of words that can
be perceived and "read" in each
fixation).
The Protocol
You will 1) learn technique, 2) learn to
apply techniques with speed through conditioning,
then 3) learn to test yourself with reading for
comprehension. These are separate, and your
adaptation to the sequencing depends on keeping
them separate. Do not worry about comprehension if
you are learning to apply a motor skill with
speed, for example. The adaptive sequence is:
technique ' technique with speed ' comprehensive
reading testing.
As a general rule, you will need to
practice technique at 3x the speed of your
ultimate target reading speed. Thus, if you
currently read at 300 wpm and your target reading
speed is 900 wpm, you will need to practice
technique at 1,800 words-per-minute, or 6 pages
per minute (10 seconds per page).
We will cover two main techniques in this
introduction:
1) Trackers and Pacers (to address A and B
above)
2) Perceptual Expansion (to address
C)
First-Determining
Baseline
To determine your current reading speed,
take your practice book (which should lay flat
when open on a table) and count the number of
words in 5 lines. Divide this number of words by
5, and you have your average number of
words-per-line.
Example: 62 words/5 lines = 12.4 ' round to
12 words-per-line
Next, count the number of text lines on 5
pages and divide by 5 to arrive at the average
number of lines per page. Multiply this by average
number of words-per-line, and you have your
average number of words per page.
Example: 154 lines/5 pages = 30.8 ' round
to 31 lines per page x 12 words-per-line = 372
words per page
Mark your first line and read with a timer
for 1 minute exactly-do not read faster than
normal, and read for comprehension. After exactly
one minute, multiply the number of lines by your
average words-per-line to determine your current
words-per-minute (wpm) rate.
Second-Trackers and
Pacers
Regression, back-skipping, and the duration
of fixations can be minimized by using a tracker
and pacer. To illustrate the importance of a
tracker-did you use a pen or finger when counting
the number of words or lines in above baseline
calculations? If you did, it was for the purpose
of tracking-using a visual aid to guide fixation
efficiency and accuracy. Nowhere is this more
relevant than in conditioning reading speed by
eliminating such inefficiencies.
For the purposes of this article, we will
use a pen. Holding the pen in your dominant hand,
you will underline each line (with the cap on),
keeping your eye fixation above the tip of the
pen. This will not only serve as a tracker, but it
will also serve as a pacer for maintaining
consistent speed and decreasing fixation duration.
You may hold it as you would when writing, but it
is recommended that you hold it under your hand,
flat against the page.
1) Technique (2 minutes):
Practice using the pen as a tracker and
pacer. Underline each line, focusing above the tip
of the pen. DO NOT CONCERN YOURSELF WITH
COMPREHENSION. Keep each line to a maximum of 1
second, and increase the speed with each
subsequent page. Read, but under no circumstances
should you take longer than 1 second per
line.
2) Speed (3 minutes):
Repeat the technique, keeping each line to
no more than ½ second (2 lines for a single
"one-one-thousand"). Some will comprehend nothing,
which is to be expected. Maintain speed and
technique-you are conditioning your perceptual
reflexes, and this is a speed exercise designed to
facilitate adaptations in your system. Do not
decrease speed. ½ second per line for 3 minutes;
focus above the pen and concentrate on technique
with speed. Focus on the exercise, and do not
daydream.
Third-Perceptual
Expansion
If you focus on the center of your computer
screen (focus relating to the focal area of the
fovea in within the eye), you can still perceive
and register the sides of the screen. Training
peripheral vision to register more effectively can
increase reading speed over 300%. Untrained
readers use up to ½ of their peripheral field on
margins by moving from 1st word to last, spending
25-50% of their time "reading" margins with no
content.
To illustrate, let us take the hypothetical
one line: "Once upon a time, students enjoyed
reading four hours a day." If you were able to
begin your reading at "time" and finish the line
at "four", you would eliminate 6 of 11 words, more
than doubling your reading speed. This concept is
easy to implement and combine with the tracking
and pacing you've already practiced.
1) Technique (1 minute):
Use the pen to track and pace at a
consistent speed of one line per second. Begin 1
word in from the first word of each line, and end
1 word in from the last word.
DO NOT CONCERN YOURSELF WITH COMPREHENSION.
Keep each line to a maximum of 1 second, and
increase the speed with each subsequent page.
Read, but under no circumstances should you take
longer than 1 second per line.
2) Technique (1 minute):
Use the pen to track and pace at a
consistent speed of one line per second. Begin 2
words in from the first word of each line, and end
2 words in from the last word.
2) Speed (3 minutes):
Begin at least 3 words in from the first
word of each line, and end 3 words in from the
last word. Repeat the technique, keeping each line
to no more than ½ second (2 lines for a single
"one-one-thousand").
Some will comprehend nothing, which is to
be expected. Maintain speed and technique-you are
conditioning your perceptual reflexes, and this is
a speed exercise designed to facilitate
adaptations in your system. Do not decrease speed.
½ second per line for 3 minutes; focus above the
pen and concentrate on technique with speed. Focus
on the exercise, and do not daydream.
Fourth-Calculate New WPM Reading
Speed
Mark your first line and read with a timer
for 1 minute exactly- Read at your fastest
comprehension rate. Multiply the number of lines
by your previously determined average
words-per-line to get determine your new
words-per-minute (wpm) rate.
Congratulations on completing your cursory
overview of some of the techniques that can be
used to accelerate human cognition (defined as the
processing and use of information).
Final recommendations: If used for study,
it is recommended that you not read 3 assignments
in the time it would take you to read one, but
rather, read the same assignment 3 times for
exposure and recall improvement, depending on
relevancy to testing.
Authored by Adaptagenix DC Staff
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