We examined genre-specific reading strategies for literary texts and hypothesized that text categorization (literary prose vs. poetry) modulates both how readers gather information from a text (eye movements) and how they realize its phonetic surface form (speech production). We recorded eye movements and speech while college students (N = 32)…

A 2,217-word news article was reduced 10 percent, 30 percent, and 50 percent by one of three reduction methods: word frequency, grammatical, and subjective. Reduction method had no effect on comprehension at the 10 percent and 30 percent reduction levels, but at the 50 percent level the subjective method produced better reading performance than…

One-hundred and forty undergraduates were divided into seven equal groups; each group read five passages and then answered one of seven types of questions. However, after reading the sixth passage, all subjects received the same type of questions. Reading time for each passage was recorded, and students were encouraged to read faster. Significant…

This study attempted to increase the reading efficiency of normal readers by developing a method of producing telegraphic prose. The subjects' (undergraduate students in psychology) rank ordered the words in each sentence of a prose passage according to the importance of the words for communicating the main sentence idea. Specific treatment…

This study addressed whether students could change their reading rate when presented with two clearly explicated purposes for reading. Results indicated that students could adapt their reading rate to fit different purposes but that passage difficulty affected the degree of flexibility. (Author/GK)

A fictional story was written in three versions: (1) traditional prose of 1,620 words, (2) medium telegraphic form of 947 words, and (3) highly condensed telegraphic form of 455 words. Two hundred and ten braille readers from grades 6 to 9 were assigned to one of the three treatment versions. Nine groups were formed on the basis of comparable age,…

College students read passages and answered either verbatim or parphrased adjunct questions either inserted in the text or massed at the end of the passage. Passage review was varied. On the post-test containing unfamiliar paraphrased questions, students given inserted paraphrased adjunct questions outperformed the others. Paraphrased questions…

Two experiments investigated the impact of a reader's perspective on prose learning: (1) subjects read stories from one of two directed perspectives or with no directed perspective; or (2) readers organized and familiarized themselves with a perspective before the perspective was applied to a story. Perspective influenced recall and organization.…

A study examined how both children and adults process inferences when reading prose. Subjects, 24 third-, fifth-, and eighth-graders, and adults, read stories where a consequence was implied, and then answered questions. The stories differed in the degree to which the inference was necessary for comprehension, and the readers engaged in either…

To test the assumption that conventional textbook prose contains words and word sequences unnecessary for comprehension, 210 blind children, all braille readers in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9, were divided into three groups and tested on a fictional story written in one of three different forms. Those forms included a traditional style (1620 words), a…