This paper advocates the view of readability as an interaction between text structure and the cognitive processes and structures possessed by a reader. A simulation model of prose comprehension that yields predictions of both propositional recall and text readability based on the frequencies of different processing events is discussed. The paper…

The Fry Readability Graph was used to determine the validity of the publisher's recommended grade usage for four reading series at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels. Three samples were analyzed from each text, and these results were compared with the publisher's stated grade levels. The majority of the basals investigated had an average…

Methods for videotaping a second grade classroom effectively and unobtrusively are described. Guidelines for equipment and personnel needs, equipment placement, and recording procedures are included. Details of the difficulties such methods present are also described. (SAS)

As six subjects read a history text, their eye movements/fixations were monitored and recorded. A processing profile was created for each subject, and the correlations between pairs of profiles were computed. The correlations were all positive, but quite small. Although the differences between correlations were not large enough to indicate a…

A REACTION TO JOHN DOWNING'S REPORT ON THE I/T/A READING EXPERIMENT IS PRESENTED. DOWNING ASSUMED THAT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS ON IMPORTANT VARIABLES, BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST. IT IS CLAIMED, HOWEVER, THAT THE TEST USED IS APPROPRIATE FOR SMALLER SAMPLES. A MORE…

THIS STUDY REPLICATED ROTHKOPF'S 1965 STUDY TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF LENGTH OF READING PASSAGE, POSITION OF QUESTIONS, AND KNOWLEDGE OF RESULTS ON THE RETENTION OF INFORMATION. TWENTY PARAGRAPHS OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL WERE SELECTED, AND TWO MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS REQUIRING RECALL OF SPECIFIC FACTUAL INFORMATION WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR EACH…

THIS INVESTIGATION FOCUSED ON THE USEFULNESS OF A PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING MEASURES OF THE MOTIVATION OF FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES TO ACHIEVE IN READING WHICH DID NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN OR ORAL VERBAL RESPONSES FROM THE SUBJECTS. MEASURES OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION WERE CORRELATED WITH TEACHER RATINGS OF EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE IN…

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCORES ON THE PUMROY CONCENTRATION TEST (PCT) AND ANXIETY, READING ABILITY, AND PERCEPTUAL SPEED AND ACCURACY WERE INVESTIGATED. CERTAIN ATTITUDES AND PROBLEMS OF THOSE STUDENTS WHO SCORED HIGH AND LOW ON THE PCT WERE IDENTIFIED, AND THE RELATION BETWEEN CONCENTRATION SCORES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES TOWARD…

AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 461 CHILDREN WAS TAUGHT TO READ WITH THE INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (I/T/A) BEGINNING IN KINDERGARTEN AND WAS READING TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY (T/O) MATERIALS BY THE END OF THE SECOND GRADE. THE CONTROL GROUP INCLUDED 462 CHILDREN WHO WERE TAUGHT TRADITIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY IN A PROGRAM CENTERED AROUND CONVENTIONAL BASAL READING…

THE FULL TEXTS OF INVITATIONAL ADDRESSES GIVEN AT THE 1965 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION (IRA) CONVENTION IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, BY SIX RECIPIENTS OF IRA CITATION AWARDS ARE PRESENTED. GATES SUGGESTS STEPS IRA SHOULD TAKE TO REVIVE AND REDIRECT READING RESEARCH. MCCALLISTER DISCUSSES THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHANGING AND EXPANDING VOCABULARY OF…

THE PROBLEM WAS TO DETERMINE WHICH COMBINATIONS OF VERBAL AND GRAPHIC MATERIALS LEAD TO THE MOST EFFICIENT LEARNING. NINETY-ONE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE DIVIDED INTO EIGHT GROUPS WHICH READ THE SAME INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL (ON ELECTRICAL CIRCUITRY) IN VERBAL, GRAPHIC, VERBAL-GRAPHIC, OR GRAPHIC-VERBAL FORM. HALF OF THE SUBJECTS WERE…

THE COMPARATIVE VALIDITY OF THE LEE-CLARK READING READINESS TEST AND THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL MATURITY (CTMM) FOR PREDICTING GRADE 1 READING SUCCESS WAS STUDIED. ALL ENTERING FIRST-GRADE PUPILS IN TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN A LOW-MIDDLE-CLASS COMMUNITY WERE ADMINISTERED BOTH TESTS DURING THE FIRST 3 WEEKS OF SCHOOL. PERFORMANCES ON THESE TESTS…

A CUMULATIVE EDITION, CONTAINING TWO "INFORMATION BRIEFS" AND THREE "NEWSLETTERS," OF THE 1ST YEAR'S PUBLICATIONS OF ERIC/CRIER IS PRESENTED. THE EDUCATION RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER/CLEARINGHOUSE ON THE RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION AND EVALUATION IN READING IS A JOINT PROJECT BETWEEN THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION AND…

Several theories of story structure are reviewed in this paper, including those of D. Rumelhart, R. Schank, and T. van Dijk. Examples are given of Rumelhart's story grammar consisting of elements such as setting, episodes, events, and reactions that must be present to form a coherent structure. Schank's contribution to story structure theory is…

One of the most widely respected features of English orthography is its sequential redundancy. Its psychological reality is evidenced by the relative ease with which good readers can encode sequentially redundant nonwords as compared to arbitrary strings of letters. Its psychological importance is implicated by evidence that this advantage is…