Daniel Willingham--Science & Education
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Is Listening to an Audio book "Cheating?"

7/24/2016

 
I've been asked this question a lot and I hate it.  I’ll describe why in a bit, but for now I’ll just change it to “does your mind do more or less the same thing when you listening to an audio book and when you read print?”

The short answer is “mostly.”
Picture
An influential model of reading is the simple view (Gough & Tumner, 1986), which claims that two fundamental processes contribute to reading: decoding and language processing. “Decoding” obviously refers to figuring out words from print. “Language processing” refers to the same mental processes you use for oral language. Reading, as an evolutionary late-comer, must piggy-back on mental processes that already existed, and spoken communication does much of the lending. 

So according to the simple model, listening to an audio book is exactly like reading print, except that the latter requires decoding and the former doesn’t.

Is the simple view right?

Some predictions you’d derive from the simple view are supported. For example, You’d expect that a lot of the difference in reading proficiency in the early grades would be due to differences in decoding. In later grades, most children are pretty fluent decoders so differences in decoding would be more due to processes that support comprehension. That prediction seems to be true (e.g., Tilstra et al, 2009).

Especially relevant to the question of audiobooks, you’d also predict that for typical adults (who decode fluently) listening comprehension and reading comprehension would be mostly the same thing. And experiments show very high correlations of scores on listening and reading comprehension tests in adults (Bell & Perfetti, 1994; Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990).

The simple view is a useful way to think about the mental processes involved in reading, especially for texts that are more similar to spoken language, and that we read for purposes similar to those of listening. The simple view is less applicable when we put reading to other purposes, e.g., when students study a text for a quiz, or when we scan texts looking for a fact as part of a research project. 

The simple view is also likely incomplete for certain types of texts. The written word is not always similar to speech. In such cases prosody might be an aid to comprehension. Prosody refers to changes in pacing, pitch, and rhythm in speech. “I really enjoy your blog” can either be a sincere compliment or a sarcastic put-down—both look identical on the page, and prosody would communicate the difference in spoken language.

We do hear voices in our heads as we read...sometimes this effect can be notable, as when we know the sound of the purported author's voice (e.g., Kosslyn & Matt, 1977). For audio books, the reader doesn't need to supply the prosody--whoever is reading the book aloud does so. 
Picture
For difficult-to-understand texts, prosody can be a real aid to understanding. Shakespearean plays provide ready examples. When Juliet says “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” it’s common for students to think that “wherefore” means “where,” and Juliet (who in fact doesn't know Romeo is nearby at that moment) is wondering where Romeo is. "Wherefore" actually means “why” and she's wondering why he's called Romeo, and why names, which are arbitrary, could matter at all. An actress can communicate the intended meaning of “Wherefore art thou Romeo” through prosody, although the movie clip below doesn't offer a terrific example. 

​So listening to an audio book may have more information that will make comprehension a little easier. Prosody might clarify the meaning of ambiguous words or help you to assign syntactic roles to words.  

But most of the time it doesn’t, because most of what you listen to is not that complicated. For most books, for most purposes, listening and reading are more or less the same thing.  

So listening to an audiobook is not “cheating,” but let me tell you why I objected to phrasing the question that way. “Cheating” implies an unfair advantage, as though you are receiving a benefit while skirting some work. Why talk about reading as though it were work?

Listening to an audio book might be considered cheating if the act of decoding were the point; audio books allow you to seem to have decoded without doing so. But if appreciating the language and the story is the point, it’s not.  ​Comparing audio books to cheating is like meeting a friend at Disneyland and saying “you took a bus here? I drove myself, you big cheater.” The point is getting to and enjoying the destination. The point is not how you traveled. 
Scott Johnson
7/25/2016 08:22:56 am

Dr. Willingham, I consider the the "cheating" precursory. Folks are asking if audio books obstruct growth in reading development or vocabulary breadth. I know you get that.

But there is more to it. People want to do what is good; they want to "get" the whole experience. I applaud those seeking to not cheat. They refer to cheating themselves, and that concern is healthy.

You make great fodder, as always, for us to keep from cheating.

Daniel Willingham
7/28/2016 06:19:17 am

I actually was writing about adult, typical readers. I plan to blog on the question w/ developing readers next week!

Daniel Willingham
8/15/2016 02:04:39 pm

OK, actually am punting on this for now...literature is too varied and large!

Larry Rudman
7/25/2016 06:22:25 pm

Dear Professor Willingham,

Another distinction between listening and reading which may have an impact on comprehension is who is controlling the pace of the experience. Given a non fiction text and low prior knowledge students, I wonder if listening to the text may put students at a greater disadvantage because it may be easier to be to let the audio play without taking a more active role and pausing to make sense of what you heard. Might be an interesting experiment to conduct and then see if teaching students a strategy to be more engaged with the content in either delivery mode made any difference.

Thanks.

Daniel Willingham
7/28/2016 06:20:09 am

that's a really good point.

Dr. Cindy Pope
7/26/2016 05:46:59 pm

Please let me know if you believe that there is an additional advantage to keeping the text open while listening to an audio book.

Larry Rudman
7/26/2016 07:21:14 pm

Hi Dr. Pope,

Have you looked at the word by Professor Rich Mayer on Multimedia E-learning Design Principles

(Amazon reference: https://www.amazon.com/e-Learning-Science-Instruction-Guidelines-Multimedia/dp/1119158664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469575138&sr=8-1&keywords=e-learning+and+the+science+of+instruction+4th+edition)

You may also find interesting this research by Professor Bjork at UCLA as an interesting variation of this research:

https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/07/YueBjorkBjork2013_redundancy.pdf

Dr. Cindy Pope
7/27/2016 10:49:14 am

Dr. Rudman,

Thank you. I will be sure to review those resources.

Cindy Pope

Daniel Willingham
7/28/2016 06:21:09 am

thanks for this resource, Larry. I think of Mayer as the def. go-to researcher on multimedia.

Pamela Ryan
8/18/2016 07:47:09 pm

As a mother of a voracious reader (son), it was always a tape or cd to accompany his early reading that caused this...as school started, he lost more interest in books...we are now going back to audio versions and text books at the same time...with wonderful results!

Sarah Lock
8/23/2016 12:17:04 pm

I am encouraged to read about your experience with your son, Pamela. My 13 year old has always been a voracious reader, but has lost interest as he has progressed in school and views reading assignments as more of a "chore".
We will use the audio book version for his summer reading requirement. Otherwise he shuts down and feels overwhelmed when he looks at the size of the book.

Jason Millard link
8/3/2016 08:20:29 am

Hi Dr. Willingham!

Great article. We use audiobooks for our students whose decoding precludes them from keeping pace independently in class. Additionally, I like to listen to audiobooks on my way to and from work each day.

Ive read some of the studies (few) on this and the one area that I've noticed as having a huge impact is attention. Being forced to decode text, even for highly proficient decoders, seems to make it more difficult to be distracted or experience mind wandering.

But having been thoroughly annoyed with Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the over use of adjectives and imagery I surely was attentive and remember most details :)

Thanks for the updated writing!

Jason

Anja Sahlstedt
8/5/2016 05:11:53 am

Thank You for Writing on such a crucial topic. Your conclusion "The point is getting to and enjoying the destination. The point is not how you traveled" sums it all up.

I work as a school librarian in Sweden and constantly meet the prejudice that listening to an audiobook is cheating, even though they are helping students with Reading disabilities significally. I have been Writing an essay about the problem and also lecturing about it, but I feel that the prejudice is so strongly fundamented in our educational system and so diffucult to break through. It is beginning to change, but not fast enough.

In Your text You write about adults, but is it also the common practice in the american school system to dismiss audiobooks as cheating?

Malcolm Waugh
8/5/2016 04:15:06 pm

Interesting thread. I'm a kindergarten teacher and love to read aloud to myself. I'd be curious to have a better understanding why. Two deliberate uses I'm aware of are 1. to keep up momentum or stamina on a long text, and 2. aiming at a sort of savoring that has a different quality from savoring silently. I bet there's a lot more going on and I'd appreciate any comments on this topic.

Diana Sandberg
8/19/2016 09:46:31 pm

I read aloud to my two kids for just about 15 years. Daily. After the first few years, the time allotted was about an hour, sometimes more. I loved doing it (and it greatly enhanced my skills as an actor <g>), but I did find it was possible to read aloud without comprehending what I'd just said. I would sometimes have to pause and silently reread a bit of text to let my brain catch up with my mouth. Ha. Both my kids became voracious readers, btw. Listening to stories didn't slow them down one bit.

Courtney
8/22/2016 10:25:46 am

I don't read aloud, but I do like to hear the words in my head. If I read faster than my imagined out loud speed, I feel like I am skimming, and my enjoyment and comprehension seem diminished. I always seem to my time to finish a good book!

Jarrid Stacy
8/12/2016 05:23:39 pm

Hello Dr. Willingham!

Fascinating read, but I do have a question, and I am hoping you're the right man with the answer. After reading the above blog, I took a moment to think what in the hell is my brain doing when I am watching, listening, and reading the subtitles to say an episode of Mad Men? I want to assume that it correlates with your study as far as reading or listening , but adding in the visual aspect of it all, does that change the game up a bit as far as a positive or negative impact? May be a silly question to ask.

Thank you!

Adam Sherritt
8/12/2016 06:06:55 pm

We can all sit here and argue that reading is better because of these reasons, or that listening to a book is equal to reading because of these reasons. But we all read for different reasons. So it's impossible to say whether listening is the same as reading unless you define WHY one reads.

I am reminded of the argument made for hiking. Hikers say that walking at a slow pace through nature allows them to savor the small details. Nature is packed full with small details, from wild flowers, to small insects crossing the path, to general interesting formations. Now, Jeep drivers and dirt-bikers will tell you that their ways of seeing nature is better because it allows them to see more large things in nature (more valleys, more trees, more mountains) in a shorter period of time, and almost effortlessly. To them, hiking is excruciatingly slow and hikers barely get to see anything compared to the amount they get to see. So who's right? Well, without defining what experience you want to walk away from nature with, you can't answer that question.

I look at the whole listening vs. reading debate in much the same way. If your goal is to be exposed to the most information possible, then listening is better. It allows you to consume books at a much faster rate because you can do it much more often, all while being productive in other matters! On the other hand, if your goal is to slow down and have an experience with the information (e.g. tactile experience with the pages, writing notes in the margin, putting a voice to the words we read, or advancing at our own pace) then reading is better.

You also brought up an interesting point with regards to difficulty and how listening can aid with that. "So listening to an audio book may have more information that will make comprehension a little easier." This is true, reading at a level higher than what you are used to is difficult at first. And I think this fact is key to understanding the debate, and the passions involved. Reading can be difficult. We all know this. But just because something is hard does not mean one should not do it. In fact, one can make the argument that it is because it is difficult that we should do it. And I think this challenges your conclusion. When you say, "“Cheating” implies an unfair advantage, as though you are receiving a benefit while skirting some work. Why talk about reading as though it were work?" I believe those who believe listening to a book is "cheating" is because you are. Because reading is work. But just because something is difficult or just because something is work does not mean its inherently bad.

We do difficult things to grow. We tear our muscles to grow physically stronger, and I believe we need to tear our mental muscles in order to grow our brains. This mentality of "if you have trouble doing it, give up and find some other way of doing it." is just ridiculous. Oh, you can't lift that rock? No problem, there's a machine over there that will lift it for you. Now sure, if your goal is to lift the most rocks then yes, the machine is great. But if your goal is to become stronger then the machine will not help you with that.

Now, I am not saying to never listen to an audiobook. I am not saying, "who cares if you have trouble reading that book and that listening to it would be easier! You have to read it because reading is hard and hard things are good!" I am not saying that. What I am saying is I believe it is dangerous to say that an easier option is the same as a harder option. They both achieve the main goal, but they are not the same. I love audiobooks, they're great for what they are and its great to be able to pop a novel in on a long road trip and listen away. But my problem arises when people want to try to say its the same thing reading.

Emily
8/22/2016 11:30:15 am

First, I think you're presuming that listening is universally easier for everyone. Some people process visual information much more easily than audio information when it comes to language. Also, where do you get that listening allows you to "consume books at a much faster rate"? My visual reading rate is relatively slow (I have a learning disability), and I can tell you that it almost universally takes me less time to read a book than to listen to one. Practically, I can listen to more books because I can listen when I'm walking to work, for example, or doing other things where my body is engaged but my mind isn't (running, doing dishes, etc). But it's not because audio books are somehow fast-tracking information into my brain. I'm sorry, but this statement presumes a visual reading rate that would be very slow, which essentially presumes that no one (or no one who listens to audio books) is good at visually reading. I know of no evidence to support this.

Also, I think "doing hard things because they're good for you" reaches a limit in value really quickly when it comes reading. Think of children with learning disabilities for example (like I was), who might be able to access audio information much more easily than visual information. Do you blame a person with a disability for using a wheelchair instead of "doing it the hard, good-for-you way" and walking? Also, think of the sadly many people in the US and across the world who are illiterate or not sufficiently literate to read at a high level. Do you think it helps any of them in the slightest to get the message that listening to a book "isn't as good" because it "isn't as hard"? If you're a proficient reader, reading won't be "hard," it will be enjoyable. If you're not, there are probably very serious and sad reason why not ranging from disability to poverty, and you're the last person who needs to be looked down upon for finding another way in.

Timur link
8/13/2016 10:46:34 am

I listen to a lot of audio books (running/hiking/in public transport). I find it to be a way to go deeper into a subject. E.g. if the book raises your interest you may want to get a hard copy and go through it at your own pace.

Also I find that I can listen for longer uninterrupted periods of time than reading.

It would be most interesting to find out if listening changes the brains plasticity and how, if that impairs reading, rapid reading in particular. However at the present moment I find listening to be an additional instrument in learning. If you read a text out loud, then just read it and after listen to your recording you will have gained a better understanding of the text.

Adam Sherritt
8/15/2016 02:07:48 pm

These are great reflections on audio books, but ultimately the question is "is listening equal to reading?" No one is disputing that listening to an audio book is beneficial, they are disputing that listening to a book is equal to reading one.

Pamela
8/18/2016 08:00:48 pm

Excellent idea! Then one can not skip words unpronounceable or not understandable...listening back, these and deeper understanding sounds like a great ticket to deeper, heck, any understanding of what is written!

Emily
8/22/2016 11:34:54 am

I'm a music psychologist, studying for my PhD. There is a *lot* of brain overlap between music and language comprehension. No one ever suggests that musicians should be careful about how much music they listen to because it might impair their ability to read music---I'm sorry, but that's frankly ludicrous. Never reading music will impair your ability to read music. Never listening to music will make what you produce when you read music sound pretty terrible. We listen to language all the time in our daily lives--why on earth would it suddenly be a negative thing in the context of literature?

Adam Sherritt
8/22/2016 06:07:00 pm

Emily, keep in mind the argument here is not that listening to a book is "negative." The argument is "listening to a book is beneficial for many people, and for various reasons, but, it IS inherently easier than reading due to the freedom it gives to the listener to text friends, drive, walk, sit on the balcony with their eyes closed, ect. (as well as various other reasons as listed in previous comments.)"

Lets please keep this in mind. No one is saying there is no need for audio books and that we should destroy them all. I'm sure we all have listened to audio books on occasion and love them, I know I do. But, and I will say it again, the two ARE different. Just because .001 and .003 are similar doesn't mean that it's wrong to say .003 is a larger number.

Carolyn
8/18/2016 10:59:51 pm

Dear Professor Willingham, I'm very interested in follow up on the literature/science on beginning readers and audiobooks. Parents are constantly encouraged to read aloud with their young children, and share a love of reading. I find that my son's comprehension (and enjoyment of audio books) is far ahead of his reading ability, patience, and persistence. And it seems from your post and the comments above that this elementary school level reader does exemplify the "cheating" debate - listening for enjoyment, when decoding is onerous. We've set a couple of rules - he can choose anything to read (often nonfiction or comics) but he has to have done reading - a short stint is all - before he can listen everyday. I expect his reading to catch up at some point but it is certainly challenging finding engaging books at his reading level to compete with his choices in audio books - "I took my turtle to school" vs Treasure Island for example. Thank you very much for a thought provoking post.

Diana M Sandberg
8/19/2016 09:53:37 pm

I read aloud to my two children for a good hour a day for around 15 years - until they were in their late teens. We all loved it. And it certainly didn't stop them from reading on their own. But I did often read books to them that were perhaps a bit ahead of their own reading level (especially since they were 3 years apart). We read Dickens and Austen and Hugo and Pratchett and Tolkein. All of which they read on their own later. It seemed to me that, having heard these works before made tackling them in printed form somewhat less daunting.

Yana
8/19/2016 10:59:34 am

Reading and listening to a book are two profoundly different experiences with different results. It is the difference between slowly tasting gourmet food at a 5-star restaurant and being tube-fed.
It is common knowledge that the meaning of literature is to be found as much in its content as in its form. (Otherwise huge novels could be summarized in just a few sentences.)
Even though I only listen to audiobooks „immersively,“ meaning I listen and look at the book at the same time (notice I said „look,“ not „read“), the listening experience is much impoverished, when compared with regular reading. This is due to two reasons:
- an audiobook forces a high speed of reading on you. You can’t ponder the choice of words in a beautiful passage, or think about the personal implications of a moral lesson or a complex thought. All you can do is fly and fly ahead, and follow the Plot.
- the intonation of the audiobook reader adds an additional layer, a specifically chosen meaning to every word. This narrows the possible interpretations we give to a book. When reading with the quiet voice in our head, there is no such outside „interpretation“.

In order to save time, I can still listen to YA lit like Polyanna, perhaps to some narrative-based popular history, sci-fi, and lighter classics -- but I can’t listen to, say, Kurt Vonnegut, Henry James, Chesterton, Proust, or A Confederacy of Dunces, without major loss of enjoyment. After such listening, there is always a bad aftertaste in my mouth – the experience has been cheapened, I have been tube-fed the book, and robbed of my own struggles to digest the book, of my own process and perception. The book has been read with a megaphone on the public square -- but "I" have not really READ the book.

Emily
8/22/2016 11:13:16 am

I have to disagree with you. By this argument, you could also say that you are 'tube-fed' a play when you see it live rather than read it in your living room, but seeing a play live is its intended form. Are you 'tube-fed' a piece of music that you listen to rather that reading the score yourself? Better toss out your Glenn Gould and Rostropovich fast--those canned interpretations are rotting your brain! Obviously I'm being sarcastic to make a point. Appreciating a good performance is *not* the same as turning your brain off. For the experienced listener, a good performance can add a layer of aesthetic pleasure that you simply may not get in the isolation of your own brain. A good performance of a book may bring out interpretations that you, alone inside your brain, might not have thought of in the first place, actually deepening your experience rather than "cheapening" it. What makes you so certain that people listening to books are incapable of being consciously aware of the performance and the performers interpretation, and thinking about how they might interpret it differently? Or that no one ever hits pause to process a beautiful sentence or an important passage? I've listened to passages repeatedly, appreciating both the words *and* the interpretation. Listening isn't necessarily lazy.

Although I listen and visually read about equally these days, as a child reading was very difficult for me as I have several learning disabilities. I thought for years that because I preferred to listen than to read that I was stupid, that none of the books I listened counted as something that I'd "really" read, just as you say. Now I'm getting my PhD in music psychology, and I know enough about the listening brain and relationships between audio and linguistic processing to know that that's frankly a load of crap. You don't come into contact with language--with any audio signal--and comprehend it without a *lot* of complex decoding and encoding processes. Whether the language is coming in through your ear or your eye is a drop in the bucket in the whole process.

I'm sorry to hear that hearing a book read doesn't offer you any pleasure, but that's a matter of individual preference. Your pleasure or lack thereof in hearing rather than reading a book has absolutely no bearing on the complexity of others' experiences in listening to a book, and it is terribly unkind to suggest that we are simply too lazy to think for ourselves.

Yana
8/19/2016 11:33:02 am

Given the above, I would add that the best use of audiobooks is to make a subsequent reading faster/easier. I'd immersively listen to a book (while looking at it at the same time), and THEN, I would read it the normal way. My perception will already be primed, I'd know the plot, the style, the characters -- and so my reading would go much faster. This time I can veer aside and stop to smell the roses, enjoy the author's method, and think at my own speed.

Randy
8/21/2016 08:14:08 am

I enjoy a good book,as well I like the texture, the feel of a book as well as the smell books give off. Work and life in general along with college classes often deprives me of the time to read for enjoyment anyways. Audible books, whether downloaded or on CD has provided me a way to enjoy new books as I listen on my way to work or while doing yard work and other chores around the house.
I do not believe listening cheapens the experience at all, is it the same of course not but I ended up at the same point whether listening or reading text. I often replay passages to ensure understanding or just to enjoy the phrasing. I think both methods can be incorporated into a teaching and learning environment.

Jocelyn
8/21/2016 12:33:02 pm

I started listening to audio books almost 2 years ago because I could not sleep. I didn't really think I would get anything out of it (other than sleep) because I am a visual learner and not auditory. I can remember words I read months later but fail to remember the lyrics to a song minutes after I hear it. Audio books are an amazing experience! Yes, I had to listen to some parts over and over again to understand all the action that was taking place (because I couldn't determine the pace) but I do that when I am reading too. Or sometimes I just read the same things over and over because I like the words. Anyway as far as I am concerned listening is much harder work than reading but immensely rewarding.

Nadine
8/22/2016 12:58:36 pm

I feel the same way: listening is hard work! Reading is quick and effortless. I enjoy both reading and listening, but I usually choose different types of books, to suit my different tastes.

Barry brinker
8/22/2016 08:01:52 am

I'm with Jocelyn! I didn't realize just how much of a visual learner I was until I got a free trial of audible for a long road trip. I didn't absorb a single word! I also can't listen to podcasts when I work out. I have to just sit there, doing nothing else, and really concentrate on what I'm hearing, which totally defeats the purpose of the audio book if you ask me.

colleen holwerk
8/22/2016 09:12:18 am

Listening to books improves your listening skills which are REAL skills just like reading skills. It's different, not better or worse. And I have noticed that children can "listen" at a higher level of vocabulary and understanding than early reading skills permit. I don't think listening and reading are in competition but are each skills that we all benefit from developing and improving.

Adam Sherritt
8/22/2016 06:17:44 pm

I agree colleen. It's so popular to say if two things are different then one MUST be better. As humans we love logic (even if we aren't completely logical) and therefore when given two options one MUST be better. And this just simply isn't true. To get philosophical they just ARE. Reading has its advantages and disadvantages, and listening likewise. To assert that they are the exact same thing though is intellectual laziness.

Anja Sahlstedt
8/22/2016 09:23:18 am

Emily Lohr
8/22/2016 09:35:22 am

I started listening to audiobooks when I had to spend 3 hours a day in my car. They were a lifesaver. Then I noticed something wonderful: I could have two books going at once, as long as one was print and the other audio. Whenever I had tried to pick up a second print book before having finished the first one, the information would get jumbled together. Print and audio are just different enough that this doesn't happen anymore.

Kelly
8/22/2016 10:03:58 am

I began listening to audiobooks while commuting 3 hours each day. It opened a wide world of reading to me. I had always had trouble finishing a book. I'd fall asleep, or get to the bottom of a page realizing my inner thoughts had distracted me to the point where I had to go back and re-read the entire page. I reflected on my younger years and realized I always had this issue. It turns out I am an auditory learner. Without audiobooks I could never be an active member of my book club. I am now an avid book listener, enjoying more than 3 books a month, whereas before it might take me three months to read a book. When friends learn of this I often am met with snobbery and distaste. I understand that our literary culture has deep roots. But turning your nose up at audiobook readers is daft dismissal of the simple fact that everyone learns differently; everyone enjoys things in their owns unique way; and to think otherwise is very simple minded. I am talking about once a child has learned to decode, of course. But once decoding is accomplished let us be accepting of all different kinds of learners. It's like saying "how dare you type that letter. You must hand write it...in Calligraphy." It's not fair to expect everyone to have the same strength. In fact this world would be a very different place if we did.

Bufo Calvn link
8/23/2016 11:14:23 pm

Professor Willingham, I'm interested in opinions on two things from both you and your readers who are commenting on this post.

First, I greatly prefer text-to-speech (software which reads a book aloud) to an audiobook (which is a recorded performance), unless I have already read the book. I don't like the narrator (be it actor or author) interpreting the characters for me; I find that listening to TTS is more similar to sight-reading a book.

My impression, based on many discussions on this topic, is that this is unusual.

The second question, and this was sparked by your post but isn't directly related to the audio versus visual processing, is that I generally don't experience prosody when reading. I think I can reasonably be described as at least an average reader, and have been recognized as having better than average recall of material.

I really became aware of this being unusual in a great exchange with my wife some years ago.

My wife was reading a book I had already read. I asked her what she thought of it, and she said she was having trouble with it, because she kept hearing the narrator in the actor Darren McGavin's voice.

Me: "You hear a voice when you read?"

My wife: "You don't hear a voice when you read?"

We had quite a lengthy husband/wife discussion about which one of us was...outside the norm.

I had access to a large number of software students, and began asking them. Overall, it seemed that about 15% of them did not hear the voices, but it varied with the software.

In an advanced PowerPoint class, the vast majority heard the voices.

In an advanced Excel class, it was a small minority which heard the voices.

This was more than a decade ago, and there were people where their entire jobs would be doing Excel or doing PowerPoint.

The two questions:

Is listening to text-to-speech (which has no knowledge of the emotional content of the piece, and does not vary voices for different characters) more similar to sight-reading than an audiobook?

How common would you suppose not experiencing prosody is among better than average readers?


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