The Measurement of Reading Speed and the Obligation to Generalize to a Population of Reading Materials

Abstract. Do learners of textual prose know which portions of the text are likely to be difficult to recall? For each of two textual passages, samples of college students were able to predict accurately the prose subunits which were actually recalled by various samples of learners attempting immediate or delayed reproductions. Multiple regression analyses provided evidence that the predictions of recall showed considerable congruence with independent ratings of the meaningfulness and comprehensibility of the subunits.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Learners' Predictions of the Recallability of Prose

Johnson¹

1974

“…But the terminology of hypothesis testing must make the same truisms less obvious. Otherwise, experiments committing the language-asfixed-effect fallacy would not be performed-and certainly would not be published-in the numbers suggested by recent reviews (Clark, 1973;Coleman, 1973;Miller & Coleman, 1972).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generalization Tests: A Terminology That Focuses Attention on Fixed-Effect Restrictions

Coleman

Morris

1978

Self Cite

Abstract. A failure to generalize a finding when theoretically-irrelevant procedural changes are made is discussed from the viewpoint of experimental logic (two experiments showed that the finding that stimulus imagery is more facilitative than response imagery does not generalize to a paired-associate task of considerable economic importance-children learning the sounds of the letters). It is pointed out that the typical experiment is a weak building block for constructing general theory since it only tests a limited null hypothesis-the specific null whose sampling variance is represented in the error term. It is suggested that "generalization test" be substituted for "significance test" to focus E's attention on his obligation to remove the more serious restrictions on generality in subsequent experiments. This paper reports a failure to replicate a finding well established in psychological research when it was investigated under boundary conditions appropriate to reading. Paivio (1968, 1970) and some 20 other studies have reported that stimulus imagery exerts more influence on paired-associate learning than response imagery. This finding was not replicated, however, when the stimuli and presentation methods were changed to approximate a pairedassociate task important to reading.The deeper purpose of the paper is to utilize its findings to focus attention on the limited claim to generality justified by the typical significance tests and research strategies used in psychological research. Specifically, the paper proposes that the term "generalization test" be substituted for "significance test." Using "generalization test" would do more than focus attention on the typical experiment's restricted generality; it would be a constant, goad to broaden generality in subsequent experiments.a Reprints maybe requested from Dr. Coleman, University of Texas, El Paso, Texas 79968.

“…Thus, if the physical length of the prose is controlled, e.g., in letters per second or standard length words per minute, it is clear that reading rate is not highly correlated with prose difficulty. In fact, the data presented by Carver (1972) and Miller & Coleman (1972) indicate that reading rate is relatively constant throughout a wide range of difficulty. Thus, the idea that readers increase their rate when material gets easier does not seem to be true.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The mean reading rates for each passage was that found by Miller and Coleman (1972). Each of 83 college students read a set of 9 passages so that each mean reading rate score represented 83 5s but not necessarily the same 83 Ss were represented in each mean.…”

Section: Reading Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Word Length, Prose Difficulty, and Reading Rate

Carver

1976

Abstract. In Study 1, the functional relationship between word length and passage difficulty was determined to be linear from Grade 1 to Grade 17 difficulty levels. A total of 360 passages were studied; the passages were sampled from curriculum materials used in all school levels ranging from Grade 1 to graduate school. Average word length was measured in both character spaces per word and letters per word. The newly developed Rauding Scale was used to estimate passage difficulty. In Study 2, the reading rate of college students was found to decrease from about 315 to 200 words per min. as difficulty increased from about Grade 2 to about Grade 17. However, when measured in standard length words per min. reading rate was approximately constant at about 250-260 words per min. as difficulty increased from about Grade 5 to about Grade 14. These data were interpreted as providing no support for certain current theory relating redundancy to reading rate and eye movements.Intuitively, one would expect reading rate to go down as prose material becomes more difficult and to go up as prose material becomes less difficult. Indeed, the idea that a flexible reader adjusts his rate to the difficulty of the prose complements this intuition. Yet, the intuition appears to be mostly wrong.Studies by Carver (1972), Klare (1963), Miller and Coleman (1972) and Pitcher (1953 have helped to clarify the relationship between rate and difficulty. These studies verify that rate in words per minute does decrease as difficulty increases. However, as prose becomes less difficult the average word length becomes smaller, i.e., there is a high correlation between average word length and prose difficulty (Bormuth, 1969; Carver, 1974c;Coleman, 1971). Thus, if the physical length of the prose is controlled, e.g., in letters per second or standard length words per minute, it is clear that reading rate is not highly correlated with prose difficulty. In fact, the data presented by Carver (1972) and Miller & Coleman (1972) indicate that reading rate is relatively constant throughout a wide range of difficulty. Thus, a