Sight word lists have been used since prior to 20 B.C. and have changed forms many times. Today sight word lists are numerous and are widely and variously used. They differ in source, intended purpose and/or audience, and criteria for including specific words. Despite the differences, there is much agreement that they do reflect the most basic…

The extent to which intralist similarity affects kindergarten pupils' rate of acquisition, word recognition skills, and tendency to generalize responses to similar words was investigated. The subjects were 54 children from a semirural elementary school who had had no formal training in letter recognition. Three acquisition lists were used to…