• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

S/N differences in reading

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
I was wondering if a S dominate person read differently then an N dominate person. I think they might but not sure, I read fast but I also skip over certain words in a sentence and ignore puncuation and I know words by looking at them, like even if I have never seen the word before in my life I can get what it means from the context. I don't focus on every syllable of every word. I always finish test really fast because I would read everything really fast. In class when I teacher would have everyone read out loud I would finish story by the time the reader was at the end of the 2nd paragraph then I'd get bored. I can't really explain it. I read but I don't know how to explain it. may be after a few responses I'll have a way to.

so my questions are

what's your type?

how do you read? do you read individual words or just key words to comprehend the meaning of the material?


anything else?
 

MerkW

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
534
I'm not so sure about this, but I have noticed that in general, S types tend to favor the ever-so inefficient "internal vocalization" form of reading.
 

JustDave

New member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
992
MBTI Type
xNTP
I think I am an INFJ but am not certain nevertheless this might interest you.

Whether it be something I just read or a classroom lecture I always absorb information the same.

1. read or listen to the information. At this stage I would neither critically consider what I am reading nor take notes.

2. After the initial exposure I note the major concepts.

3. Finally, with the major concepts in mind, review the material with a critical mindset and piece it together into one cohesive whole.
 

quietgirl

New member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
401
MBTI Type
INFJ
Im an INFJ. The words automatically form pictures in my head, so I'm not aware of whether or not I'm reading them all or just skimming key words. I do read extremely fast, so I wouldn't doubt I'm a skimmer and automatically grasp the meaning.
 

nightning

ish red no longer *sad*
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
3,741
MBTI Type
INfj
what's your type?

how do you read? do you read individual words or just key words to comprehend the meaning of the material?


anything else?

I think you need more S input...

Type: INFj

How do I read: Depends on the material, if the whole thing is interesting to me I read from page 1 - page n. Rather skip around.

I read for content and not the words. I'm notoriously bad at picking up typos unless I forced myself to look. I'm kind of a bookworm though, so I finish things pretty quickly. Took a speed reading course (didn't need it... but it was for free... so hey why not?) Anyways, to read quickly, the course recommend that you skip the short connector words in sentences... (the, a, to, on, etc).

I only sit and pause on words if they interest me... As in I find the wording funny for example.
 

Vortex

New member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
277
MBTI Type
WOLF
I'm ENFP. I read very fast and automatically make sure that I only focus at a maximum of three segments of a line, cutting out the blank spaces on either side from my vision. I seldom use highlighters in textbooks and such, since I can usually easily find a particular sentence again - not photographic memory, but some sort of memory of where a word was on a line and approximately the page in relation to the rest of the book. Certainly if it was left or right hand side, and top or bottom. If I'm asked to find a specific word on a page all the other words almost fade into the background, while the relevant one is bolded in my mind. The words are read aloud in my mind in what seems like normal speed, but certainly isn't. I seldom skim texts unless I really have to (like on the bus on the way to class or the first few minutes of a lecture) but I read books as if I want to consume them - very fast, intensely until I reach the end.
 
Last edited:

Jae Rae

Free-Rangin' Librarian
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
979
MBTI Type
INFJ
IXFJ here.

I read all words, but don't always start at the beginning of a book and read through. I'll choose the most relevant part, then read either forward or back. Sometimes I'll start with Chapter 6, then read 5, 4, 3, 2, then 1, other times I'll start with 6, then read 7, 8, 9, then 1, 2, 3.

I tend to notice misspellings, typos and poor grammar - someone in a long-ago post said they just jump out at him. And as Vortex said above, I tend to have a mental map of where information is on the page.

I'm a fast reader, but the way books are written influence the way they're read; currently I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera, which is filled with detail and description. Marquez wrote it to be savored and that's how I'm reading it. Other books, like Gods in Alabama, are read more quickly for the straight story line.

Jae Rae
 

sui generis

don't fence me in
Joined
Jan 3, 2008
Messages
745
MBTI Type
esTJ
Enneagram
875
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp

Me too. I definitely do internal vocalization (for me it's kind of like having a song in my head), but not all the time, because I skim a lot, too. It depends on what I'm reading.
 

FDG

pathwise dependent
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
5,903
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
7w8
I generally do not skim but do not internally vocalize either. I used to be a skim reader but invariably I found myself missing important information, something that might have been more easily forgiven in lower educational levels, but that now tends to be frowned upon. Plus, skimming makes reading generally less pleasurable.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I was wondering if a S dominate person read differently then an N dominate person. I think they might but not sure, I read fast but I also skip over certain words in a sentence and ignore puncuation and I know words by looking at them, like even if I have never seen the word before in my life I can get what it means from the context. I don't focus on every syllable of every word. I always finish test really fast because I would read everything really fast. In class when I teacher would have everyone read out loud I would finish story by the time the reader was at the end of the 2nd paragraph then I'd get bored. I can't really explain it. I read but I don't know how to explain it. may be after a few responses I'll have a way to.

so my questions are

what's your type?

how do you read? do you read individual words or just key words to comprehend the meaning of the material?


anything else?
I've always done all of that, and I'm (one of?) the fastest readers I know in RL. I tend to read sentences/words/even paragraphs as a whole rather than piecing out each little bit.

So :tongue10: to Ss reading in some weird inefficent way.
 

substitute

New member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
4,601
MBTI Type
ENTP
I dunno about generally, but I know that my ISTJ friend reads a LOT slower than me. However, that doesn't mean he reads less well. If we were to both read the same text for half an hour and then someone interviewed us both to mark us for comprehension and retention of the text, you'd find this would be the case:

Me: finished the entire text in about 15 minutes, then dipped back once or twice out of boredom, to the parts that interested me, and then spent 10 minutes daydreaming on something totally else, having taken the main concept or point of the text to some totally other level by means of many intuitive leaps. But when asked about certain aspects of the text, the interviewer finds I can't remember much of it, actually. Only roughly what it was about.

ISTJ: Might not quite have finished reading the final paragraph when the time ran out, but on questioning, retains all of the text in detail and can discuss it in depth, likening it to other things he's read before and speculating on who the author might be by the style or choice of vocabulary etc.

Give us half an hour again to ponder on what we read and you'll find he's able to write a detailed essay on it, whilst I've almost completely forgotten everything except the main point of it. I can't even explain how it got to that point or how that point was made in the text.
 

wildcat

New member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
3,622
MBTI Type
INTP
I was wondering if a S dominate person read differently then an N dominate person. I think they might but not sure, I read fast but I also skip over certain words in a sentence and ignore puncuation and I know words by looking at them, like even if I have never seen the word before in my life I can get what it means from the context. I don't focus on every syllable of every word. I always finish test really fast because I would read everything really fast. In class when I teacher would have everyone read out loud I would finish story by the time the reader was at the end of the 2nd paragraph then I'd get bored. I can't really explain it. I read but I don't know how to explain it. may be after a few responses I'll have a way to.

so my questions are

what's your type?

how do you read? do you read individual words or just key words to comprehend the meaning of the material?


anything else?
Yes. You are quite right. The way to learn is to be lazy. Not to sweat. Eat some candy.

After all, it is the brain who does the work. We do not need dictionaries or any other unpleasantness. Never aim to translate.
Take a book in foreign language you do not know. When you start reading, your brain starts working. Do not pick any easy reader, they are worthless.

When you find you understand a whole sentence, start again from the beginning and finish the book.
 

miss fortune

not to be trusted
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
20,589
Enneagram
827
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I skip around while reading- I skim sentences- I go back and reread them if I don't think that the paragraph makes sense- if a word seems off- or if it seems particularly interesting.

I skim through textbooks backwards, so that I get the facts, but am not engrossed by the flow of the text- it's quicker that way :)

I usually skim over the same sentence about 4 times in english to make sure that I'm getting it correct and not misreading it or anything- which happens often enough :laugh:

If reading in another language I take my time and enjoy how the words sound- I pronounce them all in my head and then string the sentence together and enjoy how it sounds as a whole. I usually read things in Spanish because I love the way that it sounds.

For an interesting note- when writing I mentally spell out each word before putting it on the page. :)
 

substitute

New member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
4,601
MBTI Type
ENTP
Ah. whatever has just shown that if there are differences between S and N reading habits, these aren't among them. She reads exactly as I do. Including the foreign language part. Except that I have two non-foreign languages.

Maybe it's not so much about whether the reader is S or N per se, but Si/Ni as opposed to Ne/Se?

(edit - but now she's added the bit about writing, I have to say that's where we differ - for me, writing just happens. It just appears on the page as though the pen is an extension of my mind, I'm barely conscious of forming the letters or words, they sorta seem to form themselves as soon as I think the word)
 

scantilyclad

almost nekkid
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
2,106
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
I multi task read.
I read the words and daydream about something totally different at the same time and still understand what i read.

i do tend to read quickly. I do skip around to get general meanings if the reading isn't too interesting.
 

The Ü™

Permabanned
Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
11,910
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
When I read a story, I usually read the first few sentences in each paragraph to get the basic idea. If I go beyond that, I get lost in the details, which usually drains me so that I don't have the attention span to finish the book.

I also tend to start reading somewhere in the middle or at the end and then just work my way back to understand how everything got to be that way. Starting at the climax makes me more curious.
 
Top