A further study of sex differences in speed of reading∗

Abstract

The problem of sex differences in speed of reading, although still unsettled, is today being attacked in a more systematic manner, by investigators. In one of the first investigations, conducted by Berman and Bird (1), the Chapman-Cook Speed of Reading Test was used on a group of university students. The results indicate that college women were significantly superior to college men in speed of reading, although not superior in intelligence rating. It should be pointed out that the measuring instrument, the Chapman-Cook test, was recently shown by Tinker (5) to be entirely too easy for university students, and this fact may have had some bearing on the results. More recently Traxler (6) using the scores made by 256 boys and 283 girls at the high school level could find no consistent difference favoring either group. The test used was the Iowa Silent Reading Test, Forms A and B, Part VI. The two groups had almost identical mean intelligence scores. The writer's own findings (2), (3) in using the Unit Scales of Aptitude, Rate of Comprehension Section, from the eighth grade through the senior year in college, inclusive, show girls to be superior up to the junior year in college. The differences in favor of the girls were statistically significant at the tenth and eleventh grade levels and for the total group of subjects. No measure of mental ability was employed. The foregoing data as well as the investigations of Tinker (4), (5) appear to indicate that the type of test used may be the factor which needs more attention, because of its influence on speed of reading. Further work is needed to determine the type of test which yields the most valid and reliable results at the various levels from elementary school through college. The purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to determine if Traxler's findings based on high school students can be verified by using a more comprehensive sample at the tenth and twelfth grade levels; and second, to extend the study into the elementary school level. The subjects, 363 boys and 396 girls employed in this study came from the elementary and high schools of Greenville and Greenwood,