THE VIEW THAT READING IS A ROTE, AUTOMATIC, CONDITIONED, NONMEANINGFUL PROCESS WHICH PRECEDES (THUS IS SEPARABLE FROM) COMPREHENSION IS CORROBORATED IN A TWO-PART INVESTIGATION. IN PART I, EVIDENCE IS PRESENTED TO SUPPORT THE POSITION THAT READING IS A NONMEANINGFUL PROCESS. IN PART II, A STUDY OF THE EFFICACY OF AN AUDITORY APPROACH TO FIRST-GRADE READING COMPARED TO A VISUAL APPROACH IS REPORTED. EIGHT ABOVE-AVERAGE KINDERGARTEN CLASSES IN THE HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS, SCHOOL SYSTEM WERE GIVEN THE DETROIT GROUP INTELLIGENCE SCALE AND THE METROPOLITAN READING READINESS TEST. FOUR OF THE CLASSES WERE ASSIGNED TO HETEROGENEOUS CLASSES TAUGHT BY EITHER THE AUDITORY (LIPPINCOTT'S SERIES) OR THE VISUAL (SCOTT-FORESMAN SERIES) METHOD. THE OTHER STUDENTS WERE LABELED AUDITORY OR VISUAL SUBJECTS ON THE BASIS OF SCORES ON THE ILLINOIS TEST OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ABILITIES AND WERE PLACED IN FOUR TREATMENT CLASSES. AT THE END OF THE FIRST GRADE, THE GATES PRIMARY WORD RECOGNITION AND PARAGRAPH READING TESTS AND A SPELLING TEST WERE ADMINISTERED TO ALL CLASSES. RESULTS WERE COMPARED FOR (1) AUDITORY AND VISUAL METHODS IN THE NONPLACEMENT CLASSES, (2) AUDITORY AND VISUAL METHODS WITH AUDITORY AND VISUAL SUBJECTS, AND (3) GOOD AND POOR READERS FROM PLACEMENT CLASSES. THE AUDITORY METHOD WAS FOUND TO BE VASTLY SUPERIOR TO THE VISUAL METHOD FOR BOTH READING AND SPELLING. TABLES, PROFILES, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. THIS PAPER WAS PUBLISHED AS A "CURRICULUM BULLETIN," VOLUME 23, NUMBER 278, MAY 1967, AND IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, OREGON 97403, FOR $0.60. (LS)