Watching videos or listening to podcasts at 2X does not affect understanding of the content, according to the University of California

If you are one of those who wants to enjoy a video or your favorite weekly podcast and you do not have much free time, or you have an exam that you see that you do not arrive, you are in luck. You can hear everything at twice the speed without affecting compression.

A new study conducted by a team from UCLA (University of California) has tested their students’ knowledge retention by listening to recorded lectures twice as fast and found that learning is not adversely affected.

This analysis stems from the recent increase in recorded university lectures, which are subsequently reproduced by students and which, in order to save time, reproduce them at a higher speed.

However, not only has this study been done and if we take the analyzes of several of them we can see that the results are very varied: some research suggests that speeding up class videos can be beneficial for learning, while others indicate that this practice could make understanding difficult.

Be that as it may, with this study the argument is reinforced that faster playback of study materials is at least as efficient as normal speeds playback (as long as those materials don’t play too fast).

Regarding the sample, 231 students and divided into four groups different playback speed (normal speed, 1.5X, 2X and 2.5X). The results were as follows: little difference was found between the normal reproductive speed group and the X1.5 or double speed groups. You can consult the full study In the following link.

It was also analyzed with another additional study. The effects of watching class videos twice at double speed compared to once at normal speed were experimented with. No differences were detected in the test results between these two groups.

“Students may be able to strategically allocate their study time to increase performance by watching lecture videos twice at 2X speed, but watching them a second time shortly before an exam.”says the author of the analysis, Dillon Murphy.

“Although our study did not reveal any significant drawbacks to viewing class videos at up to twice the normal speed, we caution that this strategy should not be used simply to save time.”, dice Murphy.

As we have seen, this is an option if we do not have too much time to study. However, if we talk about listening to audiobooks or podcasts or watching a video or 2X movie, at the end of everything we are talking about leisure and entertainment, and what better way than to take the time that one thing or the other requires, even if it is in several moments or days, to fully enjoy the experience.