Spd Rdng (speed reading) technique 37: read beginnings and endings – validated by new research. Knowing the ending of the book is good for your learning.
We’ve pointed out from the brain’s point of view that an ideal way to read a book is to start with the first chapter (which tells you what it’s going to be about) and the last chapter (which tells you the conclusions). The only downside when it comes to novels might be that it spoils the ending for you. However, new research undertaken by Nicholas Christenfeld (Professor of social psychology at the University of California, San Diego) and Jonathan Leavitt (PhD candidate at UC San Diego studying psychology) shows that people typically enjoy a book more when they know the ending in advance – even when the story has an unexpected twist at the end. (Which explains why we’re happy to go to the the same film or to reread a book again and again.) So now there’s even more reason to use the technique with factual material – knowing the conclusion means that you know which information is important as you go along. If you don’t know the end then everything is of equal value. They always said that hindsight is 20/20! Read more about this speed reading technique.