Allison Swart
Mrs. Stevens
Life Science
31 January 2018
If the Letters In a Word Are Mixed, What Gender Can Read It Faster?
Did you know that seventy-three percent of the human brain is water? Speaking of the
human brain, it has to do a lot with reading. Boys and girls have very different brains. That is
why I decided to put each gender’s brain to the test about reading. This reading test will have
one normal paragraph, and one paragraph with the letters mixed up. Each gender will be timed
on both paragraphs. I will average out the times, and see which gender adjusted better. I
hypothesized that girls will be able to adjust to the mixed up words the faster.
Well, first, infants must learn to process sounds. Second, the child must learn how to
process the distribution and patterning of speech sounds. Third, they learn to read simple words.
For example, and, the, is, for, me, and they. Next, they learn the vocabulary to be able to read
and understand sentences clearly. Finally, they must learn to read at a reasonable speed,
fluently. (Reading)
Why Can People Read Words When the Letters Are In the Wrong Order?
Your brain doesn’t always read a word as a whole. This is because your brain overlooks
the letters in the middle, reading the first and last letter. So, the first letter has to be first, and the
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last letter has to be last, for you to be able to read it. The rest of the letters in the middle of the
word can be mixed. They only thing that would change this statement would be if you added or
took away letters from the word. So, when you mix up the letters in a word, you can still read,
Does it even matter what gender you are for something to be easier for you? It actually
does! Males and females have completely different brains. For example, females are better at
multitasking than males. Females have a stronger connection with the left and right sides of
their brains; males have a stronger connection with the front and back sides of their brains.
Males use the left side of their brain for activities, while women use both sides of their brain for
activities. Females are normally better at communication with others, while males rely on
themselves to get things done. According to Fit Brains, “Female’s brains are 8% smaller than
According to Roivainen Eka, “females have advantages in rapid naming tasks and
processing speed tasks.” Anyhow, males are faster on reaction time tests. However, no gender
memory. Not in the more narrow skills measured by individual subtests of common IQ tests
either. (Roivainen)
According to Lucy Hart, “As students read, they can determine the main idea and
supporting details, the sequence of events and the overall structure of the text.” Background
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rely on their background knowledge, to tie what they already know to the text they are reading.
Connecting the text and background knowledge helps students become progressive readers.
vocabulary includes observing a word’s definition, part of speech, appropriate context clues,
and its role in the sentence. These vocabulary methods can help correct comprehension.
(Cognitive)
You need to test at least more than once to figure out what it is. First, you start at an easy
level. Then you go to a medium level. Finally, you go to the hardest level. Record your words
per minute each time you test. Then you will be able to see the time of your reading speed per
level of difficulty. By measuring your reading speed in three different levels you’ll get a better
I hypothesized that girls will be able to adjust to the mixed up words the faster. Girls had
an average reading speed of 45.5 seconds on the normal paragraph. They had an average of 36.2
seconds on the abnormal paragraph. Boys had an average of 60.5 seconds for the normal
paragraph. They had an average of 49.5 seconds on the abnormal paragraph. Girls had a
difference of 9.3 seconds. Boys had a difference of 11.0 seconds. When I looked at the results,
Works Cited
The Best Way to Test Your Reading Speed. Iris Reading, Iris Reading, LLC, 8 July 2016,
www.irisreading.com/the-best-way-to-test-your-reading-speed/.
Brains, Author Fit. “Gender & the Brain: Differences between Women & Men.” Fit Brains
“Cognitive Factors That Affect Reading Comprehension.” Cognitive Factors That Affect
Reading Comprehension | Education - Seattle PI, Hearst Seattle Media, LLC, 2017,
education.seattlepi.com/cognitive-factors-affect-reading-comprehension-1591.html
“If You Can Raed Tihs, You Msut Be Raelly Smrat.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 31 Mar.
2009, www.foxnews.com/story/2009/03/31/if-can-raed-tihs-msut-be-raelly-smrat.html
Kindersley, Dorling. “Brain.” The Human Body, Dorling Kindersley , 1993, pp. 18–19
“Reading and the Brain.” Harvard Medical School, The President and Fellows of Harvard
College, 2017,
neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harvard-mahoney-neuroscience-institute/brain-newsletter/and-br
ain-series/reading-and-brain