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Incremental reading is a method for learning and retaining information from reading that might otherwise be forgotten. It is particularly targeted to people who are trying to learn a large amount of information at once, particularly if that information is varied.

Incremental reading is based on psychological principles of long term memory storage and retrieval, in particular the spacing effect.

Information is broken into chunks, and an algorithm (usually computer software) organises the user's reading and calculates the ideal time for the reader to review each chunk. The method itself is often credited to the Polish software developer Piotr Wozniak. Wozniak's SuperMemo is currently the only implementation of incremental reading (as opposed to simply spaced repetition of questions and cloze deletions etc.).

Method

With Incremental reading, a load of material is subdivided into articles and its extracts. All articles and extracts are processed according to the rules of spaced repetition. This means that all processed pieces of information are presented at increasing intervals. Individual articles are read in portions proportional to the attention span, which depends on the user, his mood, the article, etc.

The name "incremental" comes from "reading in portions". Without the use of spaced repetition, the reader would quickly get lost in the glut of information when studying dozens of subjects at the same time. However, spaced repetition makes it possible to retain traces of the processed material in memory. Incremental reading makes it possible to read hundreds of articles at the same time with a substantial gain to attention.

For incremental reading to leave a permanent mark in long-term memory, the processed material must be gradually converted into material based on active recall. This means that extracts such as "George Washington was the first U.S. President" must be changed to questions such as "Who was the first U.S. President?", "Who was George Washington?", etc.

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 For incremental reading to leave a permanent mark in [[long-term memory]], the processed material must be gradually converted into material based on [[active recall]]. This means that extracts such as "[[George Washington]] was the first U.S. President" must be changed to questions such as "Who was the first U.S. President?", "Who was George Washington?", etc.
-==Advantages of Incremental Reading==
-'''Massive Learning'''
-The possibility of studying a huge number of subjects at the same time. In traditional reading, one book or academic subject might need to be completed before studying another. With incremental reading, there is virtually no limit on how many articles you can study at the same time. Only the availability of time and your memory capacity will keep massive learning in check.
-'''Creativity (the association bonus)'''
-The key to creativity is an association of remote ideas. By studying multiple subjects in unpredictable order, you will increase your power to associate ideas. This will immensely improve your creativity. Incremental reading may be compared to brainstorming with yourself
-'''Understanding (the slot-in factor)'''
-One of the limiting factors in acquiring new knowledge is the barrier of understanding. All written materials, depending on the reader's knowledge, pose a degree of difficulty in accurately interpreting their contents. This is particularly visible in highly specialist scientific papers that use a sophisticated symbol-rich language. A symbol-rich language is a language that gains conciseness by the use of highly specialist vocabulary and notational conventions. For an average reader, symbol-rich language may exponentially raise the bar of lexical competence (i.e. knowledge of vocabulary required to gain understanding). Incremental reading makes it possible to delay the processing of those articles, paragraphs or sentences that require prior knowledge of concepts that are not known at the moment of reading. The processing of the learning material will only take place then when the new information begins to slot in comfortably in the fabric of the reader's knowledge. Incremental reading makes it possible to tackle the hardest material that might normally seem unreadable.
-'''Counteracting Entropy'''
-The web is a goldmine of information. However, rarely do we find step-by-step articles that provide all information and entirely satisfy our needs. In scientific research, acquiring engineering knowledge, studying a narrow topic of interest, etc. we are constantly faced with a chaos of disparate and often contradictory statements. Incremental reading makes it possible to resolve contradictions and build harmonious models of knowledge on the basis of the information chaos drawn from the Internet. Incremental reading stochastically juxtaposes pieces of information coming from various sources and uses the associative qualities of human memory to emphasize and then resolve contradiction.
-'''Stresslessness'''
-The information era tends to overwhelm us with the amount of information we feel compelled to process. Incremental reading does not require all-or-nothing choices on articles to read. All-or-nothing choices are stressful! Can I afford to skip this article? For months I haven't had time to read this article! etc. Oftentimes, reading 3% of an article may provide 50% of its reading value. Reading of articles may be delayed transparently, i.e. not by stressful procrastination but by a sheer competition with other pieces of information on the basis of their priority. In incremental reading, instead of hesitating or procrastinating, you simply prioritize.
-'''Attention'''
-Incremental reading widely stretches the span of your attention. You will notice that a single paragraph in an article may greatly reduce your enthusiasm for reading. If you stumble against a few frustrating paragraphs, you may gradually develop a dislike of reading a particular article. You may even become fed up with reading for the entire evening. Incremental reading makes it possible to immediately move on to other pieces of information reducing the negative impact of frustration. It also makes it possible to split larger pieces into less intimidating portions. It allows you to read interesting bits before reading the boring bits. Those measures dramatically increase your attention. They also make reading fun. A skilled incremental reader is likely to develop an addiction to learning with all related benefits!
-'''Consolidation'''
-Incremental reading combines the process of extracting pieces of valuable knowledge with memory consolidation. By the time you begin a standard spaced repetition process of well-formulated items (as in classical SuperMemo), your memory will often have already been established in a favorable context (i.e. context that makes remembering easier). This comes from the need to extract a given piece of information from a larger body of knowledge that provides your items with relevant context. This slow process of jelling out knowledge provides you with an enhanced sense of meaning and applicability of individual pieces of information. In addition, semantically equivalent pieces of information may be consolidated in varying contexts adding additional angles to their associative power. In other words, not only will you remember better. You will also be able to view the same information from different perspectives.
-'''Prioritization'''
-In incremental reading, you can precisely determine the Priority of each article, paragraph, sentence or question. This will maximize the value of your reading time. This will also reduce the impact of material overflow on retention. You will always remember the desired proportion of your top-priority material. While the lesser priority material may suffer more from the overflow and be remembered less accurately. Priority of articles is not set in stone. You can modify it manually while reading. The priority will also change automatically each time you generate article extracts. It will change if you delay or advance scheduled reading. The priority of extracts is determined by the priority of articles. The priority of questions and answers produced from individual sentences is determined by their parenting extracts. Multiple prioritization tools will help you effectively deal with massive changes in your learning focus.
-'''Fun'''
-The sense of productivity might be one of the most satisfying emotions. This is why incremental reading is highly enjoyable. This only magnifies its powers. To experience the elation of incremental reading, you may need a few months of focused practice. You will first have to start with the basic tools and techniques listed in this article. Then you will need to master knowledge representation skills. Finally, you will need a couple of months of heavy-load incremental reading to perfect the details and develop your own "incremental reading philosophy". Last but not least, incremental reading requires good language skills, some touch-typing skills, and patience. Although the material is originally imported from electronic sources, it always needs to be molded, shortened, provided with context clues, restructured for wording and grammar, etc. The skills involved are not trivial and require practice. In contrast to other methods where you might focus on the review of the old material, incremental reading interweaves the old with the new. Novelty adds to the fun and efficiency of learning.
 ==External links==
 * http://www.banaban.net/supermemo/incremental-reading.html