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StudiesHear from PhotoReading developer and author Paul R. Scheele about the origins, processes, and science behind PhotoReading as well as case studies of how people all over the world have made amazing breakthroughs with PhotoReading. Choose a paper below or visit History of PhotoReading to learn more about the origin of the process. Our PhotoReading courses are guaranteed to produce dramatic results. Find out how you can get started today. PhotoReading and New Pathways to the Inner Mindby Paul Scheele, MADiscovering New Pathways Graduates of the PhotoReading course report improvements in information processing including increased reading speed, comprehension, and recall or use of information. Most interestingly, participants with closed head injuries, brain-lesion survivors of traumatic head injuries and strokes, extreme low-vision persons, and diagnosed dyslexics have also reported benefits after graduating successfully from the course. PhotoReading presupposes the existence of direct visual pathways to the brain that are nonconscious. However, in 1985, when PhotoReading was first developed, little research was available that could explain how the brain produces the results experienced by PhotoReading graduates. One remarkable case is that of Dr. Isaac Katzeff, a former professor of neurology at the University of South Africa in Johannesburg. Dr.Katzeff was trained in PhotoReading and several years later suffered a stroke in the primary visual cortex (V1, associated with conscious visual perception). He lost one-quarter of his visual field and his capacity to comprehend written information. Several months after Katzeff's stroke, he began experimenting with PhotoReading. He found that any information he would PhotoRead, he could then read with comprehension. Because he had a confirmed V1 lesion, he hypothesized that perhaps there is an alternative visual pathway that allows visual processing and comprehension through a route that is nonconscious. Within a year, breakthrough research addressed Dr.Katzeff's hypothesis. In the neuroscience journal Brain, J.L. Barbur et al. wrote an article entitled "Conscious Visual Perception Without V1." Their conclusion confirmed Dr. Katzeff's experience and hypothesis. In it they stated, "The results showed that area V5 (specialized for visual motion) was active without a parallel activation of area V1, implying that the visual input can reach V5 without passing first through V1 and that such an input is sufficient for both the discrimination and the conscious awareness of the visual stimulus" (Barbur et al. 1293). PhotoReading: Breakthrough in Learning to Learnby Paul R. Scheele, MAAre there any books lying around that you purchased but haven't read? Do you ever start books only to get into them a few chapters before you put them on a pile of "books to read someday"? If so, don't feel guilty. You are not alone. These are common problems of the "information overload age.” Even if you are an avid reader it can be a struggle to keep up. In 1985, I had been a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) for five years. I then studied the field of suggestive-accelerated learning and teaching. Having realized that the human brain has an astonishing ability to learn, I started pondering "What if your mind could process written materials as fast as you could turn the pages?" During my graduate work in adult learning I researched systems of rapid reading. Using NLP, I modeled efficient readers, systems of accelerated learning, and experts of speed reading. From this work emerged an accelerated, whole-brain system of reading called PhotoReading. The PhotoReading technique of "mentally photographing" the printed page is the hallmark of the system. The purpose of the system is to get your reading done in the time you have available at a level of comprehension you need. This is achieved by giving individuals the skills to approach any type of material and pull from it whatever is needed without tensions, stresses, or anxieties. Essential criteria for the finished course were:
PhotoReading brings together three powerful technologies The PhotoReading course is 96% effective in teaching individuals these advanced strategies primarily because of an integration of NLP, accelerated learning, and preconscious processing.
There is a deep and meaningful kinship linking PhotoReading, NLP, and suggestive-accelerated learning and teaching. This is demonstrated by the work of NLP trainers who are also PhotoReading instructors such as Dot Feldman, Kay Grask, Richard Clarke, Robert Siudzinski, Frances Wiggins, Deanna Sager, and Michael Lofrano. Any of them can describe the effect the PhotoReading technology has had on the direction and structure of their work. In every case, there has been a strengthened commitment to transforming how we learn to learn. PhotoReading employs a simple, easy-to-use process There are two relatively simple, yet critical, steps in the PhotoReading technique: first, input information through the preconscious processor directly into the deeper memory bins of the nonconscious mind; and second, retrieve information out of the nonconscious mind into the working memory of the conscious mind. To effectively input information through the preconscious processor, students of PhotoReading must develop a "second type of sight" (Zink, 1992) which is quite different from the hard focus normally used in reading. We call it PhotoFocus. PhotoFocus is a way of gazing using the peripheral vision to permit the brain to absorb information. This not only facilitates PhotoReading, but has potent ramifications in other areas of life, such as enhancing intuition, creativity, perception, and strengthening of the visual system. The popular 3-D posters or random-dot stereograms demonstrate the PhotoFocus effect. The most fascinating aspect of PhotoReading is learning to access information that has been preconsciously processed. Aristotle first wrote about this type of access. Modern scientific studies began in the early 1900s (Poetzl, in Dixon, 1981). The process of accessing such information is subtle since recognizing signals from the nonconscious mind is much like studying your intuition or remembering a dream. Activation techniques—common to accelerated learning—make it easier to bring information into conscious awareness. In the PhotoReading course, students learn many ways to recognize and "activate" information stored within the nonconscious mind. PhotoReaders learn to use the guidance of the nonconscious mind to quickly find the greatest meaning from printed materials. When we bypass the limitations of the analytical mind, we can improve reading efficiency almost instantly (Smith, 1979). Nearly 95% of the time spent reading normally involves the conscious mind laboriously processing what the eyes have seen (Stauffer, 1969). PhotoReading produces dramatic time-saving results, because it bypasses conscious mind processing which can attend to only seven pieces of information at a time. Instead, it relies on the preconscious processor which can attend to thousands of bits of information at a time. PhotoReading and data compression Preconscious processing delivers information to the brain the way a computer transmits information over the Internet. It eliminates redundant information, compresses the data, and then transmits it. Once we get information to the brain, it naturally and quickly recognizes the essential pattern of meaningful information from a background of irrelevant or redundant information (Wolff, 1993). I can illustrate this in another way. If you tell a friend about a book you have recently read, think of how you transmit the information. You take 200 pages and compress it into a paragraph or two. Similarly, an author has taken thousands of pages from other authors and compressed it into a single book. PhotoReading uses the preconscious processor to take in the entire printed "transmission" at once, then taps into the brain's natural ability to sort for meaning. A documentary on British television featured Paul McKenna PhotoReading a computer screen at supercomputer manufacturer Cray Research in Minnesota. His brain took in over 250,000 words per minute when PhotoReading an entire novel in less than one minute. PhotoReading produces real results in real life PhotoReading breaks old paradigms that limit our choices in learning and reading. It opens the greater possibilities of the nonconscious mind. In effect, PhotoReading can be a new, refreshing philosophy of life. PhotoReading is a leading-edge human performance technology that can be easily applied to real life. It is as natural a process as riding a bicycle. It is flexible enough to be effective for highly technical material as well as pleasure reading. Here are examples on how people use PhotoReading: Business People: With 38% of an executive's day spent reading (Investor's Daily, 1991), there is a huge payoff for any company with employees trained to PhotoRead. Business reading can be handled quickly, helping a person to stay informed and make more effective decisions.
Students: Some of the best stories about PhotoReading come from students because they have so many opportunities to prove its effectiveness. Here are some examples.
Law: Lawyers working with case books find that they review enormous volumes in minutes. It becomes a much simpler task to pull key points from reference materials.
Medicine: Medical doctors keep up with the latest research without giving up so much of their valuable time. There are few professions that change quite so rapidly as medicine, and staying on top of innovative approaches is not nearly as time-consuming with PhotoReading.
Personal Development: Think of the impact of getting through all the unread piles of books for self-improvement.
Beyond the paradigm of PhotoReading Who knows what the future will bring? Someday there may even be techniques that go beyond PhotoReading. Until then, PhotoReaders will continue to absorb useful information from all forms of written materials and actively shape the world around them. The potentials of PhotoReading are limited only by one's imagination. References Dixon, N.F. Preconscious Processing. NY: Wiley, 1981.
Investor's Daily, "A Typical Executive Spends 38% of the Day Reading," by The Associated Press. August 16, 1991, Education section.
Perfetti, Charles A. Reading Ability. NY: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Scheele, Paul R. PhotoReading. Minneapolis, MN: Learning Strategies Corporation, 1993.
Scheele, Paul R. PhotoReading personal learning course. Minneapolis, MN: Learning Strategies Corporation, 1995.
Smith, Frank. Reading Without Nonsense. Columbia University, NY: Teachers College Press, 1979.
Stauffer, Russell. Teaching Reading As A Thinking Process. NY: Harper & Row, 1969.
Wenger, Win. A Method for Personal Growth & Development. Gaithersburg, MD: Project Renaissance, 1987.
Wolff, J. Gerard. "Computing, Cognition and Information Compression." AI Communications 6(2), 107-127, 1993.
Zink, Nelson. "Nightwalking." Anchor Point, Vol. 6, No. 7, July 1992.
PhotoReading and New Pathways to the Inner Mindby Paul Scheele, MA Discovering New Pathways Graduates of the PhotoReading course report improvements in information processing including increased reading speed, comprehension, and recall or use of information. Most interestingly, participants with closed head injuries, brain-lesion survivors of traumatic head injuries and strokes, extreme low-vision persons, and diagnosed dyslexics have also reported benefits after graduating successfully from the course. PhotoReading presupposes the existence of direct visual pathways to the brain that are nonconscious. However, in 1985, when PhotoReading was first developed, little research was available that could explain how the brain produces the results experienced by PhotoReading graduates. One remarkable case is that of Dr. Isaac Katzeff, a former professor of neurology at the University of South Africa in Johannesburg. Dr.Katzeff was trained in PhotoReading and several years later suffered a stroke in the primary visual cortex (V1, associated with conscious visual perception). He lost one-quarter of his visual field and his capacity to comprehend written information. Several months after Katzeff's stroke, he began experimenting with PhotoReading. He found that any information he would PhotoRead, he could then read with comprehension. Because he had a confirmed V1 lesion, he hypothesized that perhaps there is an alternative visual pathway that allows visual processing and comprehension through a route that is nonconscious. Within a year, breakthrough research addressed Dr.Katzeff's hypothesis. In the neuroscience journal Brain, J.L. Barbur et al. wrote an article entitled "Conscious Visual Perception Without V1." Their conclusion confirmed Dr. Katzeff's experience and hypothesis. In it they stated, "The results showed that area V5 (specialized for visual motion) was active without a parallel activation of area V1, implying that the visual input can reach V5 without passing first through V1 and that such an input is sufficient for both the discrimination and the conscious awareness of the visual stimulus" (Barbur et al. 1293). Can Learning Occur Without Consciousness? In addition to the visual processing studies of Barbur et al., other researchers have demonstrated nonconscious acquisition of information is possible (Dixon; Lewicki et al.). The task of the PhotoReading whole mind system has been to instruct people in an easy-to-use protocol for gaining utility of this innate capacity of the brain. The question remains, what accounts for the behavioral demonstration of learning even though the PhotoReader does not consciously report what information had been acquired? Studies have revealed two fundamentally different ways of learning. We learn what the world is about—acquiring knowledge of people, places, and things that are available to consciousness—using a form of memory that is commonly called explicit. Or we learn how to do things—acquiring motor or perceptual skills that are unavailable to consciousness—using implicit memory" (Kandel et al. 656). From anecdotal reports of PhotoReading graduates, the results of PhotoReading appear coherent in light of studies on implicit memory. "Implicit memory has an automatic or reflexive quality, and its formation and recall are not absolutely dependent on awareness or cognitive processes. This type of memory...is expressed primarily by improved performance and cannot ordinarily be expressed in words" (Kandel et al. 658). The unique neurological system through which implicit memory operates may be the same system through which PhotoReading works. The neurological maps used during implicit learning with amnesia patients are well charted using PET (Positron-Emission Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). A brain scan during PhotoReading sessions might obtain clinical evidence of the PhotoReading process and confirm its connection with implicit memory. "Amnesics are able to perform certain tasks involving implicit memory, despite a lack of conscious knowledge of the information used in performing those tasks, and without being able to recall when and where they learned the relevant information or skill" (Farthing 136). PhotoReading seems to have a profound impact on a form of learning called priming, commonly associated with implicit memory. Priming is the recognition of words or objects facilitated by prior exposure to words or visual clues. Subjects in priming experiments can recall the cued item better than other items for which no cues had been provided. Similarly, when shown the first few letters of a previously studied word, amnesic subjects often correctly select the previously presented word, even though they cannot remember seeing the word before. Priming has effects independent from explicit memory. Tulving and Schacter suggest that perceptual priming indicates a newly discovered type of memory, the perceptual representation system (PRS). "The PRS involves specialized brain modules, probably in the anterior occipital lobes (forward of the striate area) for visual stimuli. The PRS is normally connected with episodic-semantic memory systems, but it can become disconnected from them and continue to function on its own, as in amnesia. The PRS can operate nonconsciously. Thus, the PRS can produce perceptual priming effects, without subjects being aware that they were previously exposed to the stimuli in the experimental context" (Farthing 136). Conclusions The practice of PhotoReading is one of mentally photographing the written page at rates that exceed a page per second. It is an unorthodox approach to processing written information and may involve new visual and neural pathways into the brain. When PhotoReading is used in conjunction with the other steps of the PhotoReading whole mind system, the reader has new options for getting through any form of written materials in the time available at a needed level of comprehension. The evidence of direct visual access to regions of the brain that are nonconscious supports the premise of PhotoReading. In addition, the existence of the perceptual representation system and its nonconscious operation suggest explanation for many of the anecdotal reports of PhotoReading graduates. Finally, a well researched form of learning through implicit memory implies that direct learning of skills could occur without involvement of the conscious mind. The most significant result of PhotoReading may not be limited just to improved reading skills. Perhaps this system unlocks the learning capabilities of the nonconscious mind. References: Barbur, J.L., et al. "Conscious Visual Perception Without V1." Brain, 1993, Vol. 116; 1293-1302.
Dixon, N.F. Preconscious Processing. NY: Wiley, 1981.
Farthing, G.W. The Psychology of Consciousness. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.
Lewicki, P., et al. "Nonconscious Acquisition of Information." American Psychologist, June 1992, Vol. 47, No. 6; 796-801.
Tulving, E. and D.L. Schacter. "Priming and Human Memory System." Quoted by G.W. Farthing in The Psychology of Consciousness. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.
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