AS INDICATED by the unusually large number of references i n t h e bibliography a t the end of this article, interest in the scientific study of reading problems continues unabated. Ten of the references a r e devoted exclqsively to summaries of published research relating to specific a reas or problems. They have been included because of their v a l u e in guiding practice and in planning further research. Due to their character they should be read in detail by those interested in the topics d i scussed. Accordingly, they a r e referred to briefly in the statements that follow with no attempt to summarize their contents.1. Readiness for beginning reading by Williams (118) 2. Differentiated instruction in reading, by Figure1 (25) 3. The concept burden of instructional materials, by Serra (91) 4. How concepts and their verbal representations a r e acquired, by Serra (90) 5. Relationship between personality and the language a r t s , by Russell (86) 6. Relationship between personality and reading, by Robinson (83) 7. The effectiveness of different types of graphic materials, by Malter (66) 8. Significant facts revealed by eye-movement studies, by Scipione (89) 9. Visual factors in reading disability, by Deady (16) 10. Is there a specific syndrome of visual factors in reading disability? by Shulman (95) The chief findings of the new investigations reported during the year will be summarized under three headings: The Sociology of Reading; The Physiology and Psychology of Reading; and the Teaching of Reading. Downloaded by [University of California Santa Barbara] at 22:34 15 June 2016 402 JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (Vol. 47Because of the large number of studies reported during the year, space will permit only very brief comments concerning each.
The Sociology of ReadingOnly a Limited number of studies were reported during the year that were concerned with the social relationships and implications of reading. The fact was pointed out by Young (123) that what people read depends on what is available a s well a s their choice of the materials available. In order to find out trends in the nature of the materials published, he plotted the number of new titles, "with estimated c o r r ections," published yearly from 1880 to 1949. Whereas there were wide fluctuations in the number of new titles yearly throughout the period, a straight line based upon corrected data revealed a highly significant trend. It showed an increase from less than 3000 new titles in 1880 toabout 8600 new titles in 1949. When all the titles were distributed into sub-areas according to the International Classification System, it was found t h a t fiction far outranked any other type. The likelihood is greater, t h e r efore, that a reader will be able to find a book of fiction that he w o u l d like to read than a book in any other field. The areas most widely represented by new titles, in addition to fiction, were religion, juveniles, literature, and philosophy, sociology, poetry and drama. An analysis of all the facts secured led the inve...