Seriously thoughtful When reading, do you subvocalize?

[vulcan_girl]

I'm not sure what happens because whenever I actively think about it, it stops happening.

[Victoria]

I only hear a voice when reading stories.

I just "know" the meaning when I'm reading highway signs, work email & calendar appointments, catalogues etc. So I'm able to dispense with the voice when reading for information vs reading for pleasure. However, I read much slower when subvocalizing.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Victoria

I only hear a voice when reading stories.

I just "know" the meaning when I'm reading highway signs, work email & calendar appointments, catalogues etc. So I'm able to dispense with the voice when reading for information vs reading for pleasure. However, I read much slower when subvocalizing.

When I read emails from people I know, it is their voice reading to me in my head. If I don't know them the voice is a projection of how they might sound!

When I read this forum, everyone has a slightly different "Voice"

[The Cod Father]

I don't know how it is for other people but when I get into a story I tend to get totally into my head . After a while I seem to hear each character as an individual and even to the point where the book itself disappears and there just seems to be a "movie" running in my head .I guess that I read the words and somehow it just translated into something I see instead of read or hear the words . I always thought that this was the way everyone experienced books .

TCF

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Victoria

I only hear a voice when reading stories.

I just "know" the meaning when I'm reading highway signs, work email & calendar appointments, catalogues etc. So I'm able to dispense with the voice when reading for information vs reading for pleasure. However, I read much slower when subvocalizing.

I didn't even think of that. I believe the longer the sentence, passage, etc, (I would guess, anything more than 2 or 3 words long) the more likely I am to sub-vocalize. Also, the less familiar I am with something, the more likely I am to sub-vocalize. So I may not do it with the street signs on my daily commute, but I will do it in a new or different part of town.

[vivaldirules]

My inner voice is me, I assume, and I don't think it ever changes very much. I have always thought that it is a limitation on my reading speed but on occasion I can read much quicker than I could speak and yet the inner voice seems to still be reading. Weird.

But now that you've mentioned it, I am right now reading for the 6th or 7th time James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small series where I often intermingle the inner voice reading of the text with memories of the television series and so sometimes the voice seems to change a bit as I recall the actors' voices. But not exactly and it seems to flow back and forth. Weird.

I think I'll have to ponder this some more. By the way, does your inner voice read to you as you compose and type a post here?

[spaze]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Good poll, lots to discuss. My inner reader has accents also.

What firmware version does your innerReader have? Mine doesn't support accents yet...

[FizzyWater]

I don't in general have an internal narrator. But I do stop and "read aloud in my head" when I enjoy a particular turn of phrase or a character comment...OR...if I have trouble understanding a sentence or just trouble focusing.

[kindlekitten]

you mean everyone has voices in their head!?

actually I am having a hard time answering this as I keep picturing the "moving lips while reading" scenario

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I don't in general have an internal narrator. But I do stop and "read aloud in my head" when I enjoy a particular turn of phrase or a character comment...OR...if I have trouble understanding a sentence or just trouble focusing.

After reading through all these posts (without moving my lips - I think!)
I think.

Now I am checking everything I read to see if my lips are moving or if there is an internal reader reading it for me?

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by The Cod Father

I don't know how it is for other people but when I get into a story I tend to get totally into my head . After a while I seem to hear each character as an individual and even to the point where the book itself disappears and there just seems to be a "movie" running in my head .I guess that I read the words and somehow it just translated into something I see instead of read or hear the words . I always thought that this was the way everyone experienced books .

I think it's a safe bet to say that this is the way most everyone ENJOYS books - but not everyone experiences them that way.
I know people who don't like reading - unless technical manuals - simply because they cannot get the "movie" running in their heads.
Then again, I know someone who doesn't have an inner voice when reading but still enjoys doing so.

[spaze]

I think it means that the reader get involved in the story as if he/she would be in it. It would be boring to watch a movie where people all talk in monotonous tone and no emotions in voice.

For me it's only in fiction books where I mentally create ways people talk.

[TGS]

Just to throw a small spanner in the works, what you think you do when you are reading may or may not be an accurate reflection of what you actually do.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by TGS

If auditory representation is essential what does that imply about people who are deaf reading?

I don't think it's really auditory. I think it's more a mental representation of a way of communicating. So, if your means of communications isn't auditory, maybe the mental representation isn't auditor either.

[ajmint]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I don't in general have an internal narrator. But I do stop and "read aloud in my head" when I enjoy a particular turn of phrase or a character comment...OR...if I have trouble understanding a sentence or just trouble focusing.

Same. Exactly the same.

I just imagine the scene in my head — I really enjoy imagining Hogwarts, but with books like Sherlock Holmes where they tend to move around a lot, it can be a bit harder.

I also sometimes subvocalise when the character has a distinctive voice, or when it's a major moment ("You're a wizard, Harry" being an example of both).