Schulte: Attention
Find numbers from 1 to N
About this trainer
A Schulte table is a grid of randomly arranged numbers (usually 5×5). Your job is to find and tap them in order, 1 to N, as fast as possible while keeping your gaze fixed near the centre.
What it develops
Speed of visual search, the breadth of your peripheral vision, sustained attention, and the gaze-fixation control that underlies fast reading.
History
Built in the 1950s as a clinical instrument for examining attention, it later spread into education and speed-reading courses. Across Russian-speaking countries it is one of the best-known focus exercises.
Who created it — and when
German psychiatrist Walter Schulte, who designed the grid in the 1950s as a psychodiagnostic test for attention and work-capacity disorders.
How to train
Keep your eyes on the centre cell and locate the next number with peripheral vision instead of darting around. Start at 5×5; only drop to easier grids if accuracy slips, and scale up to 7×7 once a board takes under ~40 seconds.
How long to practise
Short and regular wins: 5–10 minutes, one or two boards a day. Most people watch their per-board time fall over the first 2–3 weeks, then plateau.
Evidence base
Evidence is strongest for exactly what you would expect — you get faster at visual search and your useful field of view widens. Claims that it boosts reading speed or general intelligence are weaker and depend heavily on how you practise, so treat the grand promises with caution.
Recommendations
Use it as a 5-minute warm-up before focused work. Chase your own best time, not someone else's, and end the session while you are still accurate.
FAQ
Does it really speed up reading?
It trains the fixation and peripheral skills reading uses, but faster reading also needs vocabulary and comprehension work — the table is one piece, not a magic switch.
What grid size should I start with?
5×5. Move to 6×6 or 7×7 only when a board reliably takes under ~40 seconds.
How often should I practise?
Daily, a few minutes. Frequency matters more than long sessions.
Variants
Larger grids (6×6, 7×7); colour-and-number Gorbov–Schulte tables where you alternate two sequences; and letter or symbol versions.