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There's something that happens to me with an alarming frequency, something that I almost never (or don't remember) see being referenced (and thus I don't know the proper name). I'm talking about that effect when I'm reading a text (any kind of text, textbook, blog, forum text) and suddenly I discover that two minutes passed and I advanced six lines in the text, but I just have no idea of what I read. It's like a time blackhole, and now I have to re-read it.
Sometimes it also happens in a less alarming way, but still bad: for instance, when I'm reading something that is deliberately teaching me an important piece of knowledge (as in, I already know whathever is in this text IS important) I happen to go through it without questioning anything, just "accepting" it and a few moments later it suddenly comes down on me when I'm ahead: "Wait... what, did he just say 2 pages ago that thermal radiation does NOT need matter to propagate?" and I have again to go back and check that I was not crazy.
While I don't know the name of this effect, I have asked some acquantainces of mine about that, while some agreed that they have it others didn't. I would like very much to eliminate this flaw, anybody knows what I could do to train myself not to do it or at least the correct name so I can research more about it?
If it's material you want to/are required to learn from try taking notes as you read the material, to force yourself to recall it in your own terms/language.
If it's just recreational/online reading try increasing the font size/spacing or decreasing the browser width, or using a browser extension like readability. Don't scroll with the scroll bar or the mouse wheel - use pg up/pg down to make it easier to keep your position.
I don't know if I deliberately developed a habit of highlighting the current paragraph when reading long articles, but it has become extremely useful.
In the same vein, I get easily distracted when reading text and the ability to click around, select and deselect text that I'm reading helps me to stay engaged.
Writing that out it sounds like it would be super distracting but its not (for me). Possibly related to the phenomenon where some people work better with noise in the background rather than in silence. Clicking around might help maintain a minimum level of stimulation while reading.
Chewing gum does this for me. It's the perfect level of low-level background stimulation to focus on important things.
There was a couple university classes where I found that playing Sudoku in class actually helped me learn the material, because I gained more in alertness than I lost in distraction.
When I was in school I couldn't take notes. I couldn't write fast enough, and trying to write things down occupied so much of my attention I couldn't follow what the teacher was saying next. I should have learned shorthand; but instead I doodled. Somehow, keeping my hands busy kept my ears open.
I don't have any stats, but wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people (sometimes) read on a computer like that, by highlighting various bits as they go.
I understand the "recall in your own terms", that sounds like very practical advice, even more in my case since english isn't my mother language and thus I could try translating it, which would ensure a deeper understanding. Thanks.
I don't see how the way that information is displayed (font size/spacing and using the scroll bar) could impact in the way I'm reading, could you explain that a little more?