An approach to assessing context dependence was applied to data from the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. The results suggest that scores on the difficult passages are inflated because the examinees can answer the questions without having to comprehend the passage. (MKM)

Two studies were designed to investigate the role of morphemic structure on students' word reading. The first study asked whether familiar morphemes in words facilitate word reading for elementary students. Results showed that lower and upper elementary students read words with two morphemes (derived words with a base word and one suffix, such as…

After reviewing the literature on functional literacy, proposes that new measures be developed and classified according to the practical information to be obtained and the decisions to be made from them. (AA)

Examines the accuracy of students' perceptions of whether enough has been learned from a text to pass a test in the experiments. Reveals consistent, although nonsignificant, increases in accuracy of perceived readiness for examination performance (PREP) from before reading to after reading. Indicates that only the before-reading to after-testing…

Analyzes eight leading basal reading programs to determine the types of writing included in each and the array of writing types used in three standardized reading tests included in the programs. (FL)

Concludes that reading comprehension tests that are valid for beginning readers should incorporate different factors than tests appropriate for upper elementary readers, since word recognition and word meaning are prime sources of difficulty for younger readers while content density depresses the performance of readers in upper elementary grades.…

Describes the construction of a criterion-referenced test designed to test the ability of beginning readers to pronounce CVC letter combinations. (MKM)

This study examined the extent that motivational processes facilitate the comprehension of texts and the extent of culture's role in children's motivational processes of text comprehension. Relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the amount of reading, past reading achievement, and text comprehension were examined by utilizing…

The 302 reports of reading research summarized here were published between July 1, 1971, and June 30, 1972. The research has been categorized under six headings. The first category includes other summaries of research, classified as general or under specific titles. The second category consists of research literature related to teacher preparation…

Investigated effects of text availability and variations in directions on children's and adults' ability to draw inferences from information implicit within a text. (AA)

Study results do not demonstrate that early reading is made possible by precocity in speech-sound segmentation, blending, or discrimination ability, but that the complex skill involving the manipulation of sounds in temporal order may be more closely related to early reading ability. (AEA)

A study attempted to identify those performance-related factors that were responsible for subjects' errors on one measure of functional literacy. The analysis of errors revealed that the majority of errors could be explained in terms of information processing failures. (MKM)