Peripheral vision: features, disorders and training. Exercises to expand the range of peripheral vision using the Feldenkrais method. Is it possible to expand peripheral vision?

Human peripheral vision provides a wider view of the surrounding world. The ability to distinguish objects located outside the field of direct vision in moments of danger can save a person’s life.

How can a person develop peripheral vision?

When perceiving the world around us, a person uses two types of vision: direct and peripheral (lateral). The normal boundaries of lateral vision are 120°, but in women, due to age-old selection, visibility sometimes expands to 180°. The development of peripheral vision can be achieved with the help of special training and exercises.

With the help of the eyes, a person navigates in space, evaluating 90% of incoming information. Complete or partial loss of vision changes people’s standard of living, increasing the risk of injury at home or at work.

How to Determine the Side View Standard
When fixing the gaze on a certain point, the norm is considered to be the difference between objects, their color, shape, purpose in the sides, counting from the center of the eye:

  • outside, the normal viewing angle is 90°;
  • outside with an upward slope – 70°;
  • outside with a downward slope – 90°;
  • below, a normal person can view objects at an angle of 65°.

From the inside, the gaze is limited to the bridge of the nose, so peripheral vision is determined by parameters that are 55°, 55°, 50°, respectively.

How to check the size of the field of lateral vision yourself

Peripheral vision is designed to distinguish changes in the position of objects and their movement. At the same time, in comparison with the central perception, objects are not seen clearly enough; the further they are located, the worse their color and shape are distinguished.

The simplest peripheral vision test:

  1. take some bright object in both hands;
  2. focus your gaze straight ahead;
  3. spread your arms horizontally to the sides;
  4. if objects are visible in both hands, then the peripheral view is normal; a narrowing of the visible area by 30° is allowed (15° on each side).

If the review is much less, you should consult a doctor. A violation may indicate a disease of the retina, a lack of vitamins in the diet, damaged tissue of the optic nerve, or a malfunction of the central nervous system.

Why is peripheral vision impaired?

The consequence of various eye diseases and brain injury is a significant narrowing of peripheral vision, characterized by a local or concentric decrease in visible areas, the appearance of “blind spots” in which there is no visibility at all. Also in the retina there are physiological angioscotomas formed along large vessels that prevent the reflection of light.

With significant pathologies, a person experiences a complete loss of peripheral vision, leaving only tube perception, in which it is possible to read, but it is difficult to navigate in space.

Characteristics of types of visual impairment:

  • Organic disorders arise as a result of structural changes in the tissues of the eye, accompanied by a limitation of its function (cataracts, tumor lesions, conjunctivitis, optic nerve atrophy, blepharitis).
  • Functional changes are characterized by a change in the flow of light rays that form the image of objects on the retina (farsightedness, myopia, strabismus, astigmatism, amblyopia).
  • If the clarity of perception of surrounding objects is lost, a significant narrowing of peripheral vision occurs, and the ability to see in the dark worsens.

How women and men see objects on the periphery

Lateral vision in men and women differs significantly for a genetic reason: hereditary information that transforms the work of peripheral retinal cells (cones) is deposited in the X chromosome, of which there are two in the female body, and one in the male. Therefore, representatives of both have the same picture genders are seen differently:

  • a woman notes small details that characterize the object itself and what is located around it, pays attention and remembers the color scheme of surrounding objects;
  • a man pays attention only to the central figure, without focusing on details;
  • The stronger sex distinguishes objects better in the dark, but their eyes get tired faster;
  • the female sex drives a car much more carefully in the daytime, thanks to more developed peripheral vision, noticing almost everything that happens around them;
  • When working at a computer, women's eyes get less tired.

Peripheral vision in both sexes sharply decreases by the age of 65. Age-related characteristics also affect the ability to have lateral vision, narrowing the view quite significantly.

Side view training

The peripheral visual field affects the functioning of the brain, stimulating its functionality. The size of the field can change upward if you regularly train your abilities.

How to develop peripheral vision with gymnastics:

  • Focus your gaze on a specific place on the opposite wall, the distance to which is at least 3 meters. Around the selected object you should hang colored pictures at different distances from the central object. Try to clearly see what is drawn in the pictures, without ceasing to focus on the initially chosen object.
  • Take colored pencils in both hands and move them in different spatial directions, trying to see objects at the same time.
  • When riding public transport, you should choose a viewpoint in the distance. Without taking your central gaze away, it is recommended to examine surrounding objects that are in motion using lateral vision. Gradually their number needs to be increased.
  • Find a vertical article in a newspaper or magazine. Divide it approximately in half with a bright line. Try to read the article diagonally, without looking at individual lines.
  • Make a face mask covering the central part. Do household chores, putting on and taking off the mask every 20 minutes for 1 hour.
  • When walking, look ahead, while noticing the imperfections in the road under your feet.
    It is recommended to increase the load time during exercises for the development of peripheral vision gradually, starting from 15 minutes. If your eyes get tired, you should take short breaks. You can blink to relieve excess tension.

When a person looks straight ahead, he still catches what is happening to the side. This is colloquially known as "catch it out of the corner of your eye." The scientific name is peripheral vision. It is present in all vertebrates without exception, and is an important aspect of vision. It is also called “side”.

In the literature you can often find the concept of “peripheral vision”. Disputes arise: what kind of vision do we have, peripheral or peripheral? That's right, both ways. These are different names for the same phenomenon.

Peripheral vision perceives white light best, and then, in descending order, all the colors of the spectrum, starting from red. it also weakly perceives the shape of objects, but is sensitive to movement and flickering of objects. And the faster this flickering, the better the eye will perceive it.

There is also central vision - all objects fall into it when we look directly ahead. This means that most of what we see falls into the “zone of responsibility” of the peripheral. And how much we see depends on our field of vision. So when checked by an ophthalmologist, a peripheral vision test will definitely be carried out.

line of sight

When we look forward in a relaxed state, in addition to the objects located there, we also notice what is on the sides. Everything that thus captures the eye is the visual field. The higher a person’s visual acuity, the further he sees, but lateral vision practically does not depend on this.

By “field of view” we mean not only what a person sees horizontally, but also vertically.

Examination of the state of this vision is very important in diagnosing diseases of the retina, optic nerves and visual acuity. In case of retinal diseases, the doctor examines the patient’s field of vision dynamically over a long period of time. And it is the state of peripheral vision that can indicate the characteristics of the pathological process in the eye and help select effective treatment.

To a certain extent, the field of vision is narrowed due to the protruding parts of the face - nose, cheekbones, eyebrows. If a person wears glasses, then their frame may somewhat limit the view.

Visual field testing is the main way to diagnose peripheral vision. And the simplest of all is the control method. It does not require any instruments; the doctor, with a healthy and complete field of view, compares that of the subject with his own.

For a more accurate determination, computer diagnostics are performed - the patient looks into the eyepieces, the doctor demonstrates various objects that appear on the sides and approach the middle of the view. As soon as the patient notices them, he presses the button, and the computer records it.

Peripheral vision examination is carried out on each eye separately.

Why do we need peripheral vision?

All vertebrates and birds have this type of vision. Only in different types of living organisms it covers a different radius. For a person with healthy vision, this angle is 120 degrees in each eye. vertically and horizontally. In some eye diseases, this angle narrows. Peripheral vision can also deteriorate in the event of injury to the eye itself - a concussion, burn, bruise, or overstrain of the eye itself.

Narrowing of peripheral vision can also be a consequence of brain diseases.

Structure of the retina: rods and cones

The human eye is a complex optical instrument. It perceives, analyzes and transmits information to the retina, giving an idea of ​​color, distance, etc. At different times of the day, different areas of the retina and its different receptors are responsible for all this. These receptors transform light stimulation into nervous stimulation. In other words, light is converted into electrical impulses, and the optic nerve transmits them to the brain. Due to the similarity of shape, they were called

  • rods - those that are responsible for perception in the dark
  • cones - responsible for visual acuity and

And it is the rods that are most involved in the work of peripheral vision.

In the eye of a healthy person there are about 120 million rods, and only 7 million cones.

Rods are very photosensitive, they only need 1 photon of light to react, but they cannot distinguish the color of an object. Since there are disproportionately more rods, they are located mainly “on the periphery” of the retina, while cones are located mainly in its center. Thanks to the large number of rods on the periphery of the eye, a person notices the objects surrounding him in the dark.

Peripheral vision works well in the dark, when color perception is not relevant, so it is black and white. The fact that we perceive colors with peripheral vision during daylight hours is due to the work of the cones.

Functions

We need it to better navigate space. It is carried out mostly by the rod apparatus, so it is also. Thanks to it, we can move in the dark, distinguish objects even in almost complete darkness, because the rods react to the smallest light emissions.

In herbivorous mammals, the eyes are always located on the sides, and their viewing angle is almost a full circle. But their central vision is not very good, its acuity is quite low.

Development of peripheral vision

The eyes of a human embryo begin to develop in the first month after conception; it is such a complex organ and it takes so much time to form. At the same time, the retina, rods and cones are formed.

In a newborn baby, it is very poorly developed; the baby practically does not use it. At this time it is limited only to reacting to light. The child may turn his head towards the source, but not yet follow with his eyes.

As the child ages, visual function increases; by the age of three, the child no longer needs to turn his head to the image that interests him, and by the age of 6, peripheral vision is almost completely formed. Now it is only developing and strengthening - until puberty. The point of view of a teenager is no longer different from that of an adult.

However, already formed peripheral vision can be improved and strengthened. This is facilitated by special exercises for developing breadth of vision.

In order not to confuse which retinal receptors are responsible for what, you can remember - during the day scientists work with cones, at night, in order not to fall, they use a rod.

Why develop

Lateral vision arose in humans back in prehistoric times, when danger lurked at every step and it was necessary to identify it in time.

Peripheral vision is physiologically weaker than central vision; it tends to narrow with age. But it can be developed with the help of several fairly simple exercises.

It would be quite reasonable to ask the question: why develop it?

The fact of the matter is that it is necessary; in many cases, well-developed peripheral vision can save lives.

  • Situations on the road. The most common situation in the city is when a person crosses the road and a car appears around a bend at high speed. With peripheral vision, a person notices it and manages to react and stop. It’s the same with drivers - you need to change lanes into the next lane, but another car appears, which it’s better to let through. With their peripheral vision they managed to catch it and assess the situation. And just walking along the road to see other road users.
  • In sports. In group sports, this vision helps to notice what is happening nearby, interact better with the team, and see the opponent. During martial arts matches, athletes also detect any movements of the opponent.
  • Speed ​​reading. The main principle of speed reading is the ability to “capture” large volumes of text while expanding the angle of view. In this way, the skill of “diagonal reading” is trained.

And in many life situations it is impossible to do without peripheral vision.

Peripheral vision impairment

Peripheral vision impairments are quite often temporary; for example, the field of vision is narrowed during severe alcohol intoxication. It is restored when the person returns to normal.

With severe blood loss, injuries, shock, stress, nitrogen poisoning - all this leads to short-term impairment of peripheral vision.

There is organic damage to the retina, when the problem is practically insoluble, and the course of the disease can only be slowed down, it cannot be cured, for example, as with glaucoma.

  • There is a lack of peripheral vision when there is only central vision. In this case, a person sees all objects as if through a pipe. This kind of violation is called. If this condition is caused by glaucoma or retinal degeneration, treatment may be prescribed. The same condition often occurs in people in extreme situations, when there is overload of the optic nerve - in astronauts, military pilots, divers, climbers at high altitudes, and in other cases of oxygen starvation. But in this case, tunnel vision does not last long and the eyes quickly return to normal without treatment. They just need to give it a rest.
  • The opposite also happens - peripheral vision is present, but central vision is not. This condition is called central scotoma. There are several types of them, often scotoma is caused by inhibition of the cerebral cortex. Then a person in the central part of the eye sees a flicker, while in the periphery the image is clear.

In both cases, vision functions are impaired.

Ischemic optic neuropathy

This is damage to the optic nerve that occurs when there is a sudden deterioration in its blood supply. Then the field of vision and visual acuity suddenly and sharply narrow, and peripheral vision suffers. Mostly men over 40 years of age are susceptible to it, and it is not an independent eye disease - it is concomitant with other systemic diseases. This is a very serious condition that, if left untreated, most often leads to complete irreversible blindness.

Most often, the attack occurs in only one eye, but a third of patients also have bilateral disorders. Usually the second eye is attacked after a few days, but it happens that it takes from two to five years. The attack develops suddenly and rapidly - after sleep, physical stress, sauna, hot bath, stress. Immediately, vision deterioration occurs, down to tenths. There may be a complete loss of light perception, total blindness. Moreover, the disease can develop within a few minutes, so when visiting a doctor, the patient will indicate the time of the onset of the attack with an accuracy of a few minutes.
So-called warning symptoms often occur - short-term blurred vision, pain behind the eye, severe headaches. If such signs occur, you should not delay consulting a doctor.

At the first symptoms, treatment for peripheral neuropathy is immediately started - decongestants, anticoagulants, vitamins are immediately prescribed, thrombolytic, antispasmodic therapy, magnetic therapy, electrical and laser stimulation of the optic nerve are carried out.

The prognosis is most often unfavorable, as rapid atrophy of the optic nerve occurs. In rare cases, it is possible to increase vision by 0.1 unit.

To prevent this disease, general vascular therapy and treatment of other systemic diseases of the body are carried out. Patients who have had this disease in one eye are registered with an ophthalmologist, they are under lifelong dispensary registration, and they are prescribed appropriate preventive therapy.

Exercises to develop peripheral vision

The good thing about these exercises is that many of them can be performed without attracting anyone's attention, even while walking down the street or sitting in public transport. For others, you will need a quiet environment, a little more space. But in any case, doing them will not require a lot of your time, and you can learn how to do them correctly in one day. What these exercises have in common is that they must be performed without tension, in a relaxed state.

  1. Focus on one point in front of you. Try not to move your pupils. At the same time, record everything that you see around you, outside the field of direct vision - on the sides, above, below. First, do this exercise sitting and at home; after some time, you can practice it in nature. It doesn’t matter if some objects move, for example, an airplane.
  2. Pick up pencils. Look straight ahead. Move your arms forward, begin to spread them to the sides until you can no longer see them. At first it will be a very short distance, then the angle of view will increase significantly. In the future, move your hands with pencils in different planes, it is only important not to move your pupils.
  3. Draw a square with numbers from 1 to 9 on a piece of A3 paper, and put a large dot in the center. Read the numbers by looking only at the dot. In the future, the numbers can be made smaller and their number increased.

This page is made using Flash technologies.
The new version of speed reading training is here:

The exercise reveals visual reserves for entering a state of speed reading (fast reading). You can easily verify that you can, without any training, distinguish objects located 100 pixels from the center of gaze concentration. Allow yourself here to read or quickly read groups of words. You already have all the possibilities for this. All that remains is to start training and acquire new habits.

This training develops peripheral vision, which is necessary when reading in a zigzag manner and when reading diagonally. Also, well-developed peripheral vision helps to increase reading speed due to the fact that the reader grasps several words at once and finds information that requires careful reading, while skipping junk information.

Reading good books is like having a conversation with
the most respectable people of past centuries -
by their authors, and moreover, a scholarly conversation,
in which they only reveal to us
the best of your thoughts.
(Descartes)

Description of training to develop speed reading skills

Click on the arrow in the lower right corner. Concentrate your gaze on the point in the center of the screen and at the same time try to see all the numbers on the field. This can be achieved by looking absentmindedly. Look through the screen.

You see a number in the center of the screen. Count the number of digits of the same value on the circle and click on the corresponding number in the panel on the right. If you guessed correctly, the radius of the circle will increase and a green circle will appear in the center of the circle. If you answered incorrectly, a red circle will appear, and the radius of the circle along which the numbers float will decrease.

How training on the perception of number of digits works.

Concentrate your gaze on the center of the screen. Using your peripheral vision, count how many numbers are spinning of the same value as in the center. Type the number on the keyboard. If everything is correct, the green circle will light up. If it's not correct, it's red. Gradually the circle narrows or expands depending on your success.

Conclusion:

Your perspective is much wider than you think. You can now, without any training, read groups of words in one concentrated glance, or you can read the most important word in a line of text and thereby increase your reading speed.

Break the psychological barrier. Allow yourself to read several words in one glance.

Online flash trainings for mastering speed reading skills

Schulte tables- randomly located numbers (or other objects) to train them to quickly find objects in accordance with the rules. The tables are used for training, development of research, rate of information perception, speed of visual search movements. Search movements are the basis of fast reading. Schulte tables allow you to increase the field of view. A wide field of view significantly reduces the time it takes to detect informative text fragments.

How to make a Schult table yourself

The Schulte table is a piece of paper that shows a square with sides of 20 cm. The square field is divided into 25 cells, into which numbers are written in disarray.

A little physiology

    A wide field of view reduces the search for informative pieces of information.

    The maximum field of vision for a person is 35 degrees. The zone of clear vision is 14 degrees. The area of ​​one hundred percent vision is 1.4 degrees.

    When moving the gaze, the greatest visual acuity occurs in the central zone of the retina. Everything that lies outside the zone, on the periphery, is not clearly seen by a person. The field from which information is retrieved can be significantly expanded, for example, by using .

With regular use of Tables, peripheral vision improves and this allows you to increase reading speed by covering a larger space of the readable text, and by using a one-time mode for analyzing printed characters.

Rules for working with Schulte tables.

  • The numbers must be listed silently in ascending order. As a result of such training, the time to read one table should be about 20 seconds.
  • The time and frequency of classes should be chosen so as not to get tired.
  • Before starting to work with the table, the gaze is fixed in its center of the Schulte table in order to see the entire table.
  • When searching for consecutive numbers, the eyes are allowed to fixate in the center of the table. Horizontal eye movements are not allowed. The distance from the table to the eyes is as usual.
  • When working with tables, you should remember that training is not an end in itself. The main thing is to expand your field of vision.

How to choose the right reading material?

When choosing literature, be guided by the following principles:

  • Before reading, review the text and note how clear the author’s language is.
  • Write down unfamiliar words. The more incomprehensible words there are, the slower your reading speed will be.
  • Pay attention to the examples the author gives.

If the choice of books is not large, then adhere to the following reading algorithm:

  1. Look through the book from five to ten.
  2. Set the text aside for a few days.
  3. Read the text in depth.
  4. Take notes in a notepad.

Read books with unclear terminology in two passes. For the first time you are introduced to unknown words. By reading a second time, you clean up and assimilate the material, while more fully assimilating the structure of knowledge.

What to do if it is psychologically difficult to convince yourself to read a book a second time?

Select 3-5 books in the area you need and speed read them one by one. This reading algorithm will allow you to overcome the psychological barrier of “re-reading”.

How do extraneous stimuli affect brain function?

If you are an “auditory learner” - you perceive information through sound channels, extraneous noise will pose a serious problem for you while reading.

Here are some tips for those who are annoyed by outside conversations:

  1. Study in the library or somewhere where the noise level is minimal.
  2. Use headphones while studying. Turn on calm music or sounds of nature (the cry of seagulls, or the rustling of leaves).
  3. Practice late at night after everyone has gone to bed or early in the morning.

How to turn off obsessive thoughts

In addition to auditory stimuli, there are stimuli that are ingrained in the mind and require attention. Obsessive thoughts spin in circles and prevent you from focusing on an important matter.

Here is an example of obsessive thoughts:

  • Did I lock the car?...
  • The report is due soon, I can't make it...
  • What did my “friends” write on Facebook?
  • Did I lock the car? Need to check...
  • The report is coming, but there is no time...

If such thoughts are swirling in your mind, it is very difficult to concentrate and begin to read carefully.

Techniques for turning off obsessive thoughts.

  1. Do some physical work. As a minimum, do 20 push-ups. Go for a walk or do a set of stretching exercises.
  2. Replace the annoying emotion with an even stronger one. For example, imagine what will happen if you succumb to the harmful influence of the blues.
  3. Promise yourself to deal with the questions that are swirling in your mind a little later.

Important!

Carry out procedures to turn off thoughts, regardless of whether you feel an influx of obsessive thoughts or not. It often happens that after cleansing procedures, like after a hot shower, the body begins to feel how tense it was.

| - foreign language training | | | |

By peripheral is meant a special category of vision, for which a certain area of ​​the retina is responsible. It allows a person to normally see objects, people in the dark and recognize objects located on the sides of the area of ​​direct vision. If the lateral view is normal, then the person sees well, but various violations of this function are possible. Read more about the acuity of peripheral vision, possible diseases that cause its decrease, ways to develop lateral vision and the prevention of disorders in this review.

Determination of peripheral vision

Peripheral viewing has low resolution and only picks up black and white tones. Moreover, women have much better developed peripheral vision than men.

Peripheral vision is lateral perception, which becomes possible due to the work of certain parts of the retina. It helps to coordinate normally in space and see even in the dark. Peripheral vision is also called lateral vision, since it is responsible for the perception of objects located on the sides of the area of ​​direct vision.

Let's consider all the features of peripheral vision:

  1. Its acuity is much lower than the acuity of central vision.
  2. The quality of lateral vision in adulthood often differs from the quality of vision given at birth.
  3. Peripheral vision can be trained.
  4. Side visibility is especially important for representatives of certain professions.

In addition, the presence of problems with peripheral vision is typical for a number of pathologies, so you need to undergo timely examinations with a doctor and diagnose existing diseases. The earlier the pathology is detected, the higher the chances of its successful treatment.

If normal peripheral vision is impaired, even with normal central visual acuity the patient will not be able to move in space without problems.

A number of scientific studies have proven that women have better developed lateral vision, while men have better central vision. Scientists associate this feature with the occupation of ancient people - before, men hunted and had to be able to clearly concentrate on a specific goal, and ladies watched over caves and other dwellings, where snakes, insects, animals easily penetrated, and an immediate response to any changes was the price of life their tribe. That is, in the case of peripheral vision, the effect of genetic memory worked.

Disorders and diseases

The main task of peripheral vision is normal orientation in space. With retinal injuries, brain diseases, and other factors, peripheral vision is greatly affected. Only one eye or both may be affected at the same time.

Peripheral vision may be impaired in one eye or both.

Most often, problems with lateral vision arise against the background of various ophthalmological diseases. Among them:

  1. , accompanied by an increase in intraocular pressure and causing damage to the optic nerves. First, minor loss is noted in the periphery, then (in the absence of treatment) the field of view narrows, and irreversibly. In advanced stages, lateral vision atrophies completely.

  1. Mechanical damage to the retina– occur as a result of sudden changes in pressure, stress, heavy loads, certain diseases, and head injuries. lead to damage to the optic nerve, which already has a corresponding effect on the viewing angle.


Peripheral vision often suffers after strokes. This problem most often occurs in people aged 60 years and older.

Diagnostics

To determine changes in peripheral vision, special optical instruments are used, and the procedure itself is called perimetry. There are also. The person is asked to sit on a chair at a distance of about a meter from the doctor. Alternately, the ophthalmologist asks the patient to close his eyes and look at an object being moved in front of him. The doctor can also use a perimeter - a device with a small pendulum in the center. Lateral viewing in this case is diagnosed by pendulums (they light up) located in different parts of the field of view. After processing the results of a computer check, taking into account the number of dots and their brightness, the doctor makes a diagnosis and gives recommendations regarding how to work with existing disorders.

Carrying out perimetry

Side view training

Peripheral (side) vision can be developed by performing special exercises.

Lateral vision training is beneficial for the brain and allows you to maintain its function for a long time. They are especially indicated for motorists, professional athletes, military personnel, teachers, educators, police officers, and people training speed reading skills. The exercises are simple and do not require much time to complete, but they need to be done regularly:


Also, when walking on the street, pay attention to imperfections in the ground, directing your gaze forward. Performing such exercises is not at all difficult, and they have enormous benefits for vision.

Prevention

Basic measures to prevent problems with lateral vision:

  1. Regular examinations with an ophthalmologist and timely treatment of chronic diseases.
  2. Taking measures when diagnosing dystrophy.
  3. Preventing head injuries and...
  4. Healthy lifestyle (especially over the age of 60).
  5. Performing special gymnastics

Eyes, like any organ of the human body, require constant attention and careful care. Monitor their condition, prevent injury, infection, promptly treat existing diseases - and many problems will be avoided.

Video

conclusions

Peripheral vision is responsible for the normal visibility of objects located on the sides. If it is disrupted, the quality of life suffers greatly - to the point that a person cannot move normally in space. The main reasons for the development of pathology are concomitant diseases, injuries, stroke, and age over 60 years. Side view can and should be trained - for this purpose, tasks related to fixing the gaze on a selected object in front of oneself and recognizing objects located on the periphery are regularly performed.

Peripheral vision- This is the ability to perceive the movement or color of an object away from direct vision.

By developing the angle of vision, a person acquires the ability to read more text in one fixation of gaze. Compared to the word-by-word (narrow-angle) reading strategy, a wide angle of view allows you to read phrases in one gaze fixation, which can significantly increase reading speed. This is a variation of the Cine Table exercise.

To break the psychological barrier holding back your reading speed, use the following training. The training shows that the angle of view at which you still understand the meanings of numbers is wider than you think, which means you have every opportunity to read several words in one fixation of your gaze.

Visual angle training - find identical colored blocks

Concentrate your gaze on the center of the picture. Be careful not to move your eyes or scan the speakers. Mark identical blocks with your peripheral vision. The goal is not to find identical blocks as quickly as possible, but to concentrate your gaze on the center of the screen with your peripheral vision and find the necessary information.

When a person's gaze moves, the greatest visual acuity occurs in the central zone of the retina - the zone of clear vision. Everything that lies outside this zone of clear vision, on the periphery, is seen by a person as if in a fog. A wide field of view reduces the time it takes to search for informative text fragments.

Working with the Schulte table trains volumetric attention. The main thing is not to roam around with your eyes, the main thing is to concentrate your gaze on the center of the Schulte table to see the upper, as well as the lower left and right numbers.

With regular use of Tables, peripheral vision increases and this allows you to increase reading speed by covering a larger space of the readable text, and by mastering the one-time mode of analyzing printed characters.

Rules for working with Schulte tables.

  • The time of study should be chosen so as not to overwork.
  • When searching for consecutive numbers, the eyes are allowed to fixate in the center of the table. Horizontal eye movements are prohibited. The distance from the table to the eyes is as usual.
  • You need to find numbers by silent counting in ascending order from 1 to 25 (without skipping). Found numbers are indicated only by glance. As a result of such training, the time for reading one table should be no more than 20 seconds.
  • The gaze is fixed in its center of the table in order to cover the entire table.
  • When working with Schult tables, you should remember that training is not the main goal here. It is important to expand your field of vision.

Angle of view and speed reading

A person has the following vision characteristics:

It's better not to think about it at all
finding any truths,
than doing it without any method
(Descartes)

1. By area of ​​coverage:

  • The area of ​​best vision is 1.5 degrees.
  • Clear vision zone 15 degrees.
  • Maximum vision area 35 degrees.

2. By type of eye movement:

  • Drift – slow eye movements.
  • Fast jumps.

3. By the nature of eye movement:

  • When reading, 90% of the time the gaze is motionless,
  • For 10% of the time the eye makes jumps.

When examining an object, a person’s eyes make jerky movements along its contour with a frequency of 2-5 times per second. During the reading process, jerky movements occur 3-4 times per second in both a fast and a slow reader. The difference between people lies in the amount of information perceived at the moment of fixation of the eye. Text perception occurs only during eye fixations. Long pauses are caused by unfamiliar words or typos in the text. To speed up reading, it is necessary to expand the coverage angle of the text and increase the recognition of the text.

Text recognition is trained by constant reading. Gradually, consciousness forms a database of words, terms and verbal cliches. By applying accumulated experience, a person spends less time recognizing words in the text.

Online flash trainings for mastering speed reading skills

Reading texts diagonally

A developed angle of view helps you learn to quickly grasp important information in the text and move on to a new principle of reading - reading diagonally. During diagonal reading, a person moves their gaze from the top corner of the page to the bottom. As soon as the eye catches on something incomprehensible or important from the point of view of the subconscious, the reader stops and goes into normal reading mode.

Here are the rules for reading texts diagonally:

    Relax your eyes before reading

    Set a specific reading goal

    Move your gaze from the top to the bottom

    As soon as any word attracts attention, then switch to normal reading.

Wedge tables and speed reading

Wedge tables were invented in the last century to train visual angles and were made on paper. Much time has passed since then, and it turned out that it is much easier to create these tables using software.

Slowly move your gaze down the table until your consciousness ceases to perceive information. This is your current perspective. As you can see, it can be wide enough for the average person.

About fast reading and peripheral vision

Almost all adults have the ability to increase their reading speed without losing comprehension. Sometimes it turns out that understanding increases with fast reading, but understanding of the text decreases with slow reading.

One important strategy for improving reading speed is to widen your viewing angle. Do you notice how your eyes jump from word to word when you read a book? The eyes don't just jump from place to place. They stop so that they can take in the information. They collect information that is transmitted to the brain. In the brain, information is compared with previous experiences. Next, the brain draws conclusions about the expected continuation of events and where the eye should jump in the next moment.

How long will your reserves last?

  • If you read word by word, then you have reserves for increasing your reading speed
  • If you read while speaking, then you have reserves for increasing your reading speed.
  • If you read the same paragraph several times, then you have enormous reserves for increasing your reading speed.

Of course, it is very important for children to read aloud, and not to themselves. It is important to read word by word, since children are at the beginning of their journey of learning and it is important to remember words as they sound. And read the text until it is clear what is being said. It’s not for nothing that one of the exercises for children is to retell what the story is about. If a little reader cannot retell it, then he did not really read the text. But, all this is for children, and adults do not need any toys or rattles.

Pronunciation is especially evident when reading a text word by word. Try to read in groups of words - that is, cover several words at once in one glance, and your reading speed will increase significantly. Perhaps you do not believe that you can cover a large amount of information at one glance; special trainings and exercises are intended for such non-believing people, for example, working with Schulte tables.

Remember the basic rules of fast reading: Every person can read quickly right now.

  • The main problem is overcoming the psychological barrier.
  • Reading speed comes with practice. The more you read, the faster you read.
  • You can read quickly by reading blocks of words.
  • You can only read interesting texts quickly
  • You can read quickly only with psychological sublimation

Feedback on the use of the program for the development of peripheral vision

I used this program a couple of times a day. At first it was hard to see the widely spaced numbers, but over time the distance between them only increased. Having trained our eyes and brain a little for a wide angle and instantaneous reading, we will move on to the next step: refusing to pronounce the text being read. After all, when our eyes grasp the entire line, and our brain is tuned to its instant analysis, pronouncing each letter to ourselves for a long time is the slowest stage.