Toward a Theory of Reading Comprehension and Rauding

Abstract

PRESENTS A THEORY which describes the process of reading comprehension under typical reading conditions. The theory purports that the rate of reading is constant and that the accuracy of comprehension during reading can be predicted from a measure of material difficulty and individual ability. The per cent of a reading passage that will be comprehended may be predicted given a knowledge of 2 characteristics of the reader, 2 characteristics of the passage being read, and the amount of time spent reading the passage. Techniques for measuring all the important variables in the theory are described, and empirical data supporting parts of the theory are presented. Typical reading comprehension is considered to be a special case of a more general language comprehension phenomenon called rauding. En vue d'une theorie sur la comprehension ac la lecture et sur le rauding