An informal study examined the impact of a simple behavior modification procedure on the reading habits of second and fifth grade students. Behavior modification theory was pared down to two rules ("reinforce proper behavior" and "reinforce anything close to proper behavior") so that no additional burdens would be placed on…

Aspects of reading motivation and the amount and breadth of reading done were studied with 105 fourth and fifth graders. Children's reading was found to be multidimensional, and their motivation predicted reading amount and breadth even when previous amount and breadth were controlled. Intrinsic motivation was a better predictor than extrinsic…

A study investigated why children choose not to read. Subjects, 21 fifth-grade students attending a Catholic school in Vancouver, British Columbia, completed "clock-sheets" detailing their activities outside of school over a 5-day period, were administered a measure of locus of control, completed a reading attitude survey, and were…

A study investigated the relationships between reading interests, habits, and attitudes of third, fourth, and fifth grade students and the variables of teacher/parental influences, ethnic background, gender, and grade levels of the students. Subjects, a random sample of 101 Black, 92 White, 2 Chinese and 1 Arab low-to-middle socioeconomic-level…

Diaries showing how 920 Irish fifth graders spent their leisure time on three designated days within one week augmented data about the children's personal, school, and home characteristics to aid in determining the primary factors related to the amount and type of leisure time reading. The children reported spending a median time of 60 minutes per…