Watching videos at double the speed does not interfere with the assimilation of knowledge

Students are forced to speed up video lectures in order to memorize more information in a short time. Good news for them and fans of swallowing audio at double speeds: the latest study by the University of California, Los Angeles team found that the assimilation of knowledge does not suffer when viewing recordings at a moderately high speed, but it noticeably worsens when the speed reaches 2.5x.

231 students took part in the test, they were divided into four groups according to the speeds of the proposed video: 1X, 1.5X, 2X and 2.5X. The participants of each group watched several video lectures, and then performed a test of 40 questions on them. The difference between groups with single speed and groups with 1.5- and 2-fold reproduction was small – they all showed equally high scores. The group with 2.5X reproduction showed a deterioration in assimilation. Repeated testing a week later showed similar results, so watching accelerated videos also works in the case of long-term memorization.

During the experiment, the difference in the effects of watching video lectures twice at double speed compared to once at normal speed was also studied. There were no differences in the assimilation of information in these two groups. And in the case of repeating the accelerated video a week later right before the test, the subjects showed even better results compared to those who watched it once at normal speed a week before the test. This opens up new strategies for students to learn and allocate their time.

The researchers cautiously note that accelerated playback may not be effective for more complex topics or in lectures with a large amount of visual content. The topics of lectures in this particular experiment were the history of Ancient Rome and the valuation of real estate.