Is watching lecture videos at 2x speed bad?

When I watch pre-recorded lectures, I often watch them at a 1.5 or 2 times speed, but every time I do, I’m concerned that I’m not absorbing as much as I could.

Does speeding up online lectures come at a cost to performance?

According to a new paper in Applied Cognitive Psychology, within some limits, the answer is no.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, published a study in the international journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology that “fast replay” does not reduce the learning effect and can actually increase the effectiveness.
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The study involved 231 students from UCLA perform a comprehension test after watching YouTube clips on real estate appraisals and the Roman Empire.
Different students watched them at standard speed, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 times speed. The screen size was set to the full screen, and they were told not to pause or take notes during viewing. Each student took one test immediately after watching the video and another, a week later to gauge how much students absorbed the content.

The researchers actually found that students who had viewed the videos at speeds of 1.5 times and 2 times did not show any reduction in comprehension results compared to those who watched at the normal rate.

However, participants who watched videos at speeds of 2.5 times or more showed significant reduction in performance.
Fascinatingly, the study also found that students who had watched the videos at double-speed twice, immediately before the test performed higher than those who watched the video only once.

Of course, the experiment may have different impacts depending on the subject you study.
However, it seems that it is okay to speed up playback as long as the video content can be accurately perceived and understood.

So, when you’re cramming for your next exam, watching a lecture twice at double speed may be more beneficial than watching it once at normal speed.

[mds]

Fun fact: u can watch this video in 1 min with 2x speed.

[tiagobrito]

I'm 26 and have been studying my whole life, some subject's can go 2.5 easy buy others need to go down 1.5. It also depends on you attention levels at the moment.

[AyushMishra-neug]

2x is too much. 1.5x is still okay without notes. 1x with notes.

[VishFish]

This video was truly a godsend for me considering I have a million lectures to watch and I was worried about what watching them in 2x speed would do and if I would understand anything afterwards LOL

[soldacool]

fun fact ive been watching in 2x for a long time and the part in 4x at the start was hard

[TMKMLEIsBackToSchool]

I can’t do 2.5x speed on mobile without uyou+

[iAdden]

That test is fundamentally flawed. While it showed no difference, the people watching at 2x speed may simply differ in their ability to retain information, regardless of video speed. They may also vary in their test-taking skills, meaning the results don't definitively reflect the study's conclusions.

[colacoca]

this might be odd but I reversed my adhd and being impatient from watching videos at 2x speed and am able to retain and absorb information more effectively and I do not feel lazy anymore.

[Drravikumar]

*only when you can accurately understand the video content otherwise not.

[Jackfruitman-ncol]

In my experience it depends on the content...
If its just some theory being blabbered, then 2x
If problem solving is involved, like say a math class..1.5 or 1.75 would be preferable
Just my experience

But my problem is, i take breaks in between lectures and thus effectively it just takes 2 yours to complete a 2 hour lecture most of the time even at 2x😅lol ... I needa work on my breaks

[petromax]

1.5x is too slow and 2x is too fast sometimes. 1.75x is the sweet middle ground and if we could choose, I would choose 1.85x as it is perfect for me(I have reviewed videos at 1.85x with PotPlayer and found that it hits the sweet spot. But 1.86x is too fast somehow)

[playboiadi]

Is it necessary that i watch video twice when played at 2x or just watching it once will help? As I have less time

[briancrainfan]

I prefer 0.25 or 0.5. 1.25 or 2 give me anxiety. Is something wrong with me?

[daveThbfusion]

The Real Problem of people who habitually do that

they begin talking Tooo FubbinFast in everyday life


:// irl

[legenddemix]

when i was waching this i had seted video speed at 2x and i trouth yoo lemme do 0.5x lol

[lifeisshort.]

I'm watching this at 1.75 speed xD