Describes a study in which it was found that informational background has some effect on reading speed and comprehension. (TJ)

Investigated, at three elementary levels, how word reading speed is related to rapidly naming series of numbers, letters, colors, and pictures, and to general processing speed. Also sought to determine how these relationships vary with the reading task employed. (Author/VWL)

This study investigated the differential effects of two direct instruction (DI) reading programs, one with overt decoding strategies and one with more covert decoding strategies, on the reading achievement of struggling seventh graders in an urban middle school. The students participating in this study (N = 55) were 2 to 4 years behind in reading…

This study examined the effects of repeated reading using above grade level narrative passages on: (a) reading rate as measured in words per minute (wpm) and (b) reading miscues. A single group, pretest-posttest design was used to measure the treatment effects. The study group consisted of 11, sixth grade African-American students with learning…

This study examined the status of current reading, spelling, and phonological processing skills of 28 university students who reported a history of reading acquisition problems. The results indicated that 21 of these participants were currently able to comprehend text at a level expected for university students, although only 8 at a rate…

An ABAB withdrawal design was used to investigate the effects of explicit timing on accurate oral reading rate of sight word phrases of four elementary students demonstrating difficulty with reading. During baseline the students were exposed to flash cards with sight word phrases and asked to read them out loud and were not made aware that they…

This study examined whether children's reading rate, comprehension, and recall are affected by computer presentation of text. Participants were 60 grade five students, who each read two expository texts, one in a traditional print format and the other from a computer monitor, which used a common scrolling text interface. After reading each text,…

The study involving 20 learning disabled (LD) and 20 normal Ss at the fourth, seventh, and tenth grade levels was conducted to determine if normal and LD students differ in reading flexibility. To measure reading flexibility, the dependent variables--elapsed time and comprehension--were assessed under two conditions. For Condition 1, Ss were asked…

Presents a summary of research on the effect of tabular and graphic presentation on reader reaction, reader retention, and reading time that found that comprehension, reaction, and reading time are enhanced by graphic aids. (JOW)

Describes three experiments designed to investigate the effect of sentence organization on the comprehension of procedural directions. Ease of comprehension was determined by measuring reading time for two different sentence patterns, while subjects followed instructions to operate an unfamiliar device. Experimental results showed that…

By adapting the scoring procedure of the Gates McGinitie Reading Test, speed and accuracy portion, the reading rates of 185 randomly selected hearing impaired students from residential schools for the deaf were obtained. Rates were then compared with the reading rates of hearing students and extempore speech. (Author)

Two young autistic children exhibited normal reading comprehension but reading speeds considerably faster than controls. The effect of randomizing word order was minimal for the older of the two autistic boys. Results indicate that efficient grapheme-phoneme conversion is primarily responsible for the fast reading of the autistic children.…

This study of 12 individuals with blindness or low vision extended earlier studies by Morton Heller concerning speed and accuracy of reading noncanonical (tilted) braille text. Results were similar for Heller's original character set (B-J), but the effect of orientation was reduced with other letters and whole words, especially for experienced…

Measures comprehension after reading from screen at both a normal and fast reading speed. Finds a speed-accuracy trade-off and, in general, the recall of specific details was less accurate than responses to higher order questions. Concludes that the most effective readers, in terms of higher comprehension scores, were those who spent more time…

Addresses life-span developmental relations between naming and reading speed. Finds word-reading speed and naming speeds of colors and pictures increased into mature adulthood, but for letter and number naming, asymptotes were reached at around 16 years of age. Supports the theory that describes reading recognition development as a domain-specific…