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…

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…

The effects of telegraphic prose upon the comprehension of written and auditorily presented messages were tested. Two separate experiments were conducted. Subjects for the first experiment were 60 undergraduates enrolled in a remedial reading program; subjects for experiment 2 were 100 undergraduates enrolled in an introductory educational…

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,…

It has been assumed that written and spoken language contains many words and word sequences which are unnecessary for the comprehension of a message. The purpose of this research was the development and evaluation of three major telegraphic production schemes. Telegraphic prose refers to an abbreviated writing style similar to that found in…

This study analyzed and evaluated three major telegraphic production schemes. This second volume consists of eight appendixes which give the stimulus materials in their various reduction formats and their associated tests. For the first volume of the study see IR 001 308. (WCM)

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…