FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS OF
COMPREHENSiON IN READING
____
_
FREDERICK B. DAVIS
Cooperotw
Test Service of tna Amencon
Council on Education·
A survey of the literature was made to
determine the skills involved in reading
comprehension that are deemed most
important by authorities. Multiple-choice
test items were constructed
to measure
each of nine skills thus identified as basic.
The inrcrcorrclarions of the ninc skill
scores were factored. each skill being
weighted in the initial matrix roughly in
proportion to its importance in reading
comprehension, as judged by authorities. The principal components were
rather readily interpretable in terms of
the initial v:lriJblcs. Individual scores in
components I and 11arc sufliciendy reliable to warrant their usc for practical
purposes, and useful measures of other
components could be provided by con·
The application of techniques of
factotial analysis to the investigation of
reading has been attempted sevetal times.
Fedet (11), Gans (12), and Langsam (23)
have published studies that employed
Thurstone's centroid method, and unpublished studies have been made by Bedell and Pankaskie. So far as the writer
is aware, the study reported here is the
first to make use of testS especially constructed to measure the mental skills in
reading comprehension that are considered of greatest importance by authorities in the field...
·On le3ve for military service .
... For a detailed presentation of the basic
data of thiS study, see (8).
From Psychoml'triito,
97. Reprinted
9(3),1944,
with permission.
pp. 185-
structing the required number of additional items. The results also indicate need
for workbooks to aid in improving students' use of basic reading skills. The
study provides more detailed information regarding the skills measured by the
Cooperative
Reading Comprehen.Hon
Tests than has heretofore been provided
regarding the skills actually measured by
any other widely used reading test. Statistical techniques for estimating the reliability coefficients of indiVIdual scores
in principal-axes components, for determining whether component variances are
gre3ter than would be ~'ielded by chance.
and for calculating the significance of the
differences between successive component variances are illustrated.
The most important step in a study
that employs factorial procedures fot the
investigation of reading comprehension
is the selection of the tests the scores of
which are to be factored. Unless these
tests provide reasonably valid measures
of the most important mental skills chat
have to be performed during the process
of reading, the application of the most
rigorous statistical pro'edur~s can not
yield meaningful and significant results.
The importance of this point can hardly
be overstated.
As the first step in the present study,
a careful survey' was made of the Iitera- ([)
ture to identify the comprehension skills
J
that are deemed most important by authorities in the field of reading. A list of
several hundred specific skills was com·
research
236
READING COMPREHENSION
piled, many of them ovetlapping.
This
list of skills was studied intensively by
the writer in order to group together those
that seemed to tequire the exercise of the
same, or closely related, mental skills. The
objeerive was to obtain several groups of
skills, each one of which would constitute a cluster having relatively high
inrercorrelations and relatively low correlations with other clusters of skills.
Nine groups of skills were sorted out
and labeled. For the purposes of this
study, they are regarded as the nine skills
basic to comprehension
in reading. Included within them is the multitude of
specific skills considered important by the
authorities consulted. These nine basic
skills are as follows:
1. Knowledge
of word meanings
2. Ability to seleer the appropriate
meaning for a word or phrase in the
light of its particular contextual serting
3. Ability to follow the organization of
a passage and to identify antecedents
and references in it
4. Ability to sereer the main thought
a passage
of
Ability to answer questions that are
specifically answered in a passage
Ability to answer questions that are
answered in a passage but not in the
words in which the question is asked
7. Ability to draw inferences
passage about its contents
from
a
8. Ability to recognize the literary devices used in a passage and to deter.
mine its tone and mood
9 .. -\biliry to determine a wrIter's pur.
pose, intent, and point of view, i.c.,
to draw inferences about a writer
To provide a measure of each one
of these nine basic skills, a large number
research
of five-choice objective teSt items were
construered. All possible care was taken
to obtain items that measured only one
rather than several of the nine skills.
However, it was recognized that skill I
{knowledge of word meanings) is basic
to the measurement of all the other skills,
since to read at all one has to reco.gnj.«
words and understand
their meanings,
and that some overlapping of skills 2-9
is inevitable.
Since the final forms of the readingcomprehension tests used in this study
were to be the published forms of Tests
C1 and C2 of Form Q of the Coopera-
tive
Reading
Comprehension
Tests,
practical considerations
[notably the reo
quirements of the procedure for obtaining three equivalent "scales" in the tests
(6)J determined
in some measure the
number of items testing each basic skill
that could be used. An eHort was made,
however, to include the proportion
of
items testing each one of skills 2-9 that
conformed to the judgments of authorities in the field of reading.
To obtain the intercorrelations
of
SCores in the nine basic reading skills se.
leered for measurement,
240 multiplechoice items were administeted to a large
numbet of freshmen in several reachers
colleges.· The students were told to mark
every item and were allowed an unlimited amount of time. By this means, the
influence of speed of reading was reo
moved and the effects of mechanical dif.
ficulties
in word
perception
were
minimized. Of the 541 students tested,
421 J.(tuall' answered every l[em, and,
when proof was obtaine
t at t IS group
·Every freshman in all of the ttachers col.
leges of the Sute ot Connecticut Jnd evtr~· frtshman In two of the .\1Jssa.:husetts Surt Teachers
CoJltges ..:omprised the u.mple testtd. The (tH'
ing was done about a month atter the beginning
of the school year.
237
FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS OF COMPREHENSION IN READING
RESEARCH/TABLE 1
Intercorrelauons.
theIr reiaCionshlps
Skill
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
mc:ans. and standard deViations
With sex (.\1 = 421\
of raw scores
In
the nine basic reading skills. and
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Sex·
Mean
a
.72
.41
.34
.28
.36
.16
.52
.53
.71
.71
.43
.36
.64
.68
.68
.42
.35
.55
.76
.51
.52
.68
.68
.41
.36
.55
.03
-.07
-.01
-.03
-.04
-.01
.06
-.05
-.05
23.77
12.70
4.20
2.97
18.10
25.67
28.46
6.75
15.19
11.61
3.25
1.73
1.10
2.46
5.67
5.81
1.86
4.07
• A posltlve coeffiCient
women.
.34
.30
In
thiS column
indicates
.28
.29
.45
.57
.59
.76
.68
.58
that the men obr.llned a higher mean score than the
consrirured a r restnrative sample of the
entire: 541 students teste,
e scores of
onlv rhese 421 pupils were used in rhe
factorial analySIS. In addmon ro the in(ercorrelations of the scores, the correlations between sex and scores ~h
of
rhe nine skills were compured. As would
have been expected, the correlarions with
sex were all insignificantly different from
zero. This being so, there:was no need to
parrial uur rhe intluence of sex before
making a factorial analysis.
Research/Table
1 shows rhe inrercorrelarions of the scores in the nine basic
reading skills, and rheir relationships· with
sex.
The intercorrelations
of the nine
basic skills range from .16 to .76, the
values reflecting in parr their true relationships and in parr the differences in
their reliability. The reliability coefficients of the scores in the nine skills are
shown in Research!T able 2.
As would be expected in view of the
widely different lengths of the tests used
to measure the nine basic reading skills,
their reliability coefficiems differ considerablv.
For even the least reliable,
however. rh< r<liability coefficient is sub·
stantially and significantly grearer than
zero.
Subjective judgment had forecast
relatively high correlations between skill
1 and each of skills 2-9. Inspection of
ResearduTable
1 in the light of ,he data
RESEARCH/TABLE 2
Reliablliry codficlcnrs of raw scores in each of
[ne nine basic reading skills·
Number of
Skill
'II
N
Items
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
.90
.56
.44
.18
.55
.77
.63
.64
.71
100
100
100
421
100
100
100
100
100
60
20
9
5
"
42
43
10
27
-The division of each test into two halves was
accomplished
in this case by arranging the items
in order of difficulty and asslgnmg alternate Items
to tach "2If. It will be recalled thar speed had no
influence on these scores. The reliability coefficient for skill 4 is b.1scd on 421 cases; the reliability coeffiCients for the other ~kills uc based on
a representative sample of 100 cases drawn from
the 421 available.
research
238
READING
COMPREHENSION
RESEARCH/TABLE 3
Partial correl~tlon coe!ficients among skills 2-9. skill 1 being held consunt IN = 421)
Skill
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2
3
.09
.23
.05
.26
.16
.19
.40
.22
.38
.22
.23
.22
.45
.32
.53
.:26
.09
.17
.26
.33
.38
.37
.20
.24
.32
.53
.40
.38
4
5
6
7
8
in Research/Table 2 reveals this to be so.
h is apparent that skill 1 constitutes the
largest element common to all of the other
initial variables; hence, it may be of interest to study the inrercorrel:ltions
of
skills 2-9 when skill 1 is held constant.
RESEARCH/TABLE
Inltlal matrix
These partial coefficients are shown in
Research/Table 3.
Perhaps the most surprising feature
of the data in Research,Table
3 IS the
small size of the coefficients. After making due allowance for the Jttenuation
4
of variances
Jnd CQvan3nces·
Var;ahle
x,
x,
xJ
x.
x,
x.
x.
x,
x,
x,
134. -0
F.OI
10.56
8.16
1.94
3.01
3.65
1.29
0.31
1.l2
14.77
4.22
1.44
0.82
6.05
46.88
13.03
4.24
2.25
8.93
32.17
45.78
12.90
4.24
2.25
7.85
24.89
33.75
11.04
3.17
0.90
0.59
2.07
5.96
6.33
3.46
32.07
8.93
2.91
1.63
5.53
17.42
16.00
4.42
16.54
x,
x,
x.
x,
x.
x.
x.
x,
·Vanances are shown In the di.1gonJ,i cells. The Kelley method would be equ311~· .lppllcable If the
scores In van:ables 1-9 were rtJ.nsformed into standard mcasurC'S. In thiS c.ase. the varIance 10 cach
diagonal
cdl would
be 1 anJ the
";".1\
.L!l.1n.;es woulJ
be IJentlc",1 \\inn the Inrcn.:orrel.1uons
shown
~n
Researchrrable 1. The resulnng matrix would undoubtedly present a more familiar appearance to
many nudenn. Each one of the baSIC reading skills would then have b~n weighted equally for
purposes of factorial analYSIS. However, authontles in the field of reading quite reasonably do not
ludge each one or the basiC slulls to be oi equal importance in the process of reading comprehenSIOn.
Of the many possible facronal Jnalyses :using different weights). that analYSISwhich appears to have
unique merit ISa prinCipal-axes solution based an a matrix of vanances and covanance'S In whi~h the
initial test varianc:cs are weighted to correspond with their relauve importance in the process of
readin~. as determined by the pooled rudgment of authonries. That is the rypc of facronal anOl1ySlS
thOlt It '4"JSIntenJeJ )huulJ be performed In the present study, but pracrtc~1 conslderaCions resuhed
In some modifications in the relative weights of the nine IOlrial variables.
for purposes of comparison. the Kelley method was used to perform a factorial lnalysls oi the
correlation matrix shown in ResearchITable 1 (C'xcluding sex) with unit variances in the diagonals. A
comp:)rl)on of the b.ctor IOJdings detlved from the rwo pnn":lpJ.l-ues analyses .nd from a centrOId
analysIS of the same data IS now In preparation.
~esecrch
1
_
fUNDAMENTAl
fACTORS Of COMPREHENSION
239
IN READING
RESEARCH/TABLE 5
Coefficients
of skills 1-9
Components
Van;ance
I
Skills
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
.A(
1'"
ot each of the initial variables
(factor loadings
192.1,70
II
22.824
In
thar yield scores
components
III
8.657
IV
5.282
In
the nine independent
components
I-IX)
V
3.828
VI
3.306
VII
2.321
VIII
1.956
IX
1.006
V.mance
.813
.184
.057
.027
.10i
.341
.336
.078
.233
.001
.006 -.016
-.082
-.571 - .064 -.033
-.028
-.017
.971 -.019
-.003
.124 -.005
.000
.997
.000
.000 -.000
.054 -.001
.000
.000
.000
.067
.000
.048 -.000
.024
-.014
.970
-.Oll
-.003
.152
.149
-.001
- .129 -.204 -.044
-.531
.567
.469
.008 - .147 - .020 - .051 -.0.1
.580 -.719
.981
.000 - .010
.141 -.000
.105 - .001
.166
-.02:.126
.080
.835
.366
.253
.011
-.076
- .004
.996
- .012
-.023
-.02ti
-.007
- .013
134.699
10.563
3.009
1.220
6.050
32.169
33.751
3.456
16.540
resulting ftom the comparatively low re- the most interesring that has been obliability coefficients of some of the vari- tained by factorial techniques.
The subjective judgment exercised in
ables,
it IS apparenr
rhat reading
constructing
the teSts of.the nine reading
comprehension,
as measured by the nine
skills
is
reflected
in the surprising extent
basic reading skills, is not a unitaty abilto
which
several
of
the tests appear to be
ity. From the correlations
it appears
moderately
"pure"
factor measures. A
probable that a mental ability presenr to
word
of
caution
must,
however, be inthe greatest extenr in skills 6, 7. and 9 is
jected.
Because
some
of
the skills were
second most importanr in producing the
judged
to
be
more
important
than others
inrercorrelarions shown in Research!
in
the
reading
process
and
because
pracTable 1. To explore this matter, a factical
considerations
governed
to
some
torial analysis was undertaken,
using
extent
the
number
of
items
used
to meathe method described by T. L. Kelley
sure each of the nine reading skills, the
(22).'
The initial matrix of variances and standard deviations of the initial variacovariances used in the factorial analysis bles differed considerably. And, since the
initial matrix of variancl:s .lnd covari·
is presented in ResearchfTable 4.
ances used for the analysis reflected those
In Researchrr able 5 are presented
the ooefficients of each of the initial var- differences, the coefficients in Research!
iables (the nine basic reading skills) that Table 5 must be interpreted with due regard for the magnitudes of the standard
yield the nine independent components
obtained by factorial analysis. The de- deviations of the nine initial skills. Scores
sign shown in ResearchfT able 5 is one of in skill 1, for example, have a large Standard deviation in comparison with the
standard deviations of scores in the other
• For this study it was desirable (0 obtain
the factor loadings of 111 significant components
skills. So a small component loading in
rather than the loadings for only the twO or three
skill 1 may be found to have more weight
largesr componentS; hence a fairly luge number
in a regression equation for obtaining
of subJects W3S tesred 3nJ Kelle~'·s method W.loS
scores in anyone of the components than
selected as being most suitable for use.
research
1
READING COMPREHENSION
240
would be expected from an inspection of
ResearchfTable 5 alone.'
A srudy of the values in Research!
Table 5 (making due allowance for the
magnirudes of the standard deviations of
the initial variables) reveals that the nine
components are rather readily identifiable in terms of the original nine reading
skills. Component I is dearly word
knowledge (skill 1). Its positive loadings
in each of the nine basic reading skills
reflect the fact that to tead at all it is
necessary to recognize words and to recall their meanings.
It is dear that word knowledge plays
a very important part in reading compre• Readers who are most familiar with the
centrOid med'lOd of factorial analysis have someumes questioned this statement. A principal-axes
itnalysis makes it possible to obuin very readily
a giHn tndi ..".dual"s s~ore in anyone of the com-
ponents for which regression coefficients (or facror loadings) have b«n determined. For example.
IndiVIdual scores in component I may be obtained from the follo ....IOS regression equation:
Cl = ,813'.'(1) ..... 184(.'(1) + .OS-IX)}
+ .027IX.1 + .107(X.1
+ .J4I(X.I + .336,X.1
+ .0781X,1 + .23JIX.i.
nearly
In rhi'S equation. variables 6 and 7 have
Identical regression codticlents. but we
know that the standard deviation of ,,·an.ble 6 is
5.67 wntle that of vari;ablc 7 is 5.81. Thereiore.
variable 7 will have 3 slightly greater weIght In
Jetermtntng.n
indiVidual's ..core 10 .:omponent 1
than will variable 6 despite the tact that the fac·
tor 1030dings of v:uiable1 6 and -; tn .:omponent I
are 3o1most the same.
A Simple and convenlent :lid 10 interpreting
the regression coefficients with proper regud for
the Sizes at the standard deVIations of the IOtrlal
varIables IS to construct a table containing each
regression coefficient multiplied by the 3ppropn·
ate standard deviation of an mitial variable. For
example. the factor loading of skill 1 in component I (.813) would be multiplied by the st3nd3td
devlauon of sk1l11 (11.61). Yielding 9.4; the factor loading of skill 2 in component I (.184\ would
be multiplied by the st3nd.Jrd deVIation 01 skdl 2
'\.2 ~ . ~',dJing .6; and so on.
hension and that any program of remedial teaching designed to improve the
abiliry of srudents to understand what
they read must include provision for vo- ,
cabulary building. When one combines I
the evidence that word knowledge is so
important an element in reading with the
fact that the development of an individual's vocabulary is in large measure
dependenr on his interests and his back- \
ground of experience, the relatively low
correlations between reading tests in different subject-matter fields are understandable.· There IS, however, no
necessiry to conclude that all of the fundamental factors of comprehension in
reading are not involved in reading materials in various subject-matter fields.
Component II has been termed a
measure of reasoning in teading. It has
its highest positive loadings in the r.,...o
reading skills that demand ability to infer meanings and to weave together sev·
era I statements. It may seem puzzling at
first that this component should have a
strong negative loading in skill 1 (word
knowledge), but consideration of the
psychological meaning of components I
and II indicates that this should be expected_ The explanation undoubtedlv lies
in the fact that individuals who know
accurately the meanings of a great many
words are thereby given a head start
toward getting the meaning of what thev
read. ~refore.
if we are to meJ.sure
reasoning
In
reading independently
of
word knowledge, we must give mdmdUils who are defiCient 10 word knowleage a "handicap" and then see how well
they reason when Jhey are Elacea on e~
terms with their fellows in word knowledge. Component II appatently mea'wes the ability to see the relationships
of ideas.
• For d3t3 on tim pOint see (5).
I
reseorch
_
FUNDAMENTAl FACTORS OF COMPREHENSION IN READING
241
Component III is not so readily in- component consists of about 77% of the
terpretable as most of the others, but it original variance of skill 3.
Component VIII measures specific
is clear that individuals who obtain high
knowledge
of literaty devices and techscores in this component focus their at·
niques,
and
probably reflects the influ(ention on a writer's explicit statements
ence
of
training
in English more than the
a~ost to the exclusion of their implicaother
components
do. Component IX is
rions. Component IV measures chidly the
composed
largely
of
ability to select the
ability to loemifY"awrlter's mtent u/main
thought
of
a
passage;
it may be
pose, or pomt 0 vIew (skill 9). Individconsidered
a
measure
of
ability
in the
uals wno obtam hIgh scores in this
synthesis
of
meaning.
The
variance
of
component are less concerned with what
v
component
IX
comprises
approximatel
a writer says than wlth why he says it.
Such individuals should presumably be 82 % of the original variance of skill 4
better able to detect bias and propa- (ability to select the main thought of a
ganda than individuals who obrain low passage). Students who make high scores
scores in this component. Component V in component IX are presumably those
is composed principally of ability to fig- who would be most capable of writing
ure out from the context the meaning of adequare summaries and precis of what
an unfamiliar word or to detennine which they read.
Of the nine components described,
one of several known meanings of a word
all
except
components'll, Ill, and IV can,
is most appropriate in its particular con·
for
practical
purposes, probably be
textual setting (skill 2). It is reasonable
measured
satisfactorily
by means of raw
that it should be essentially unrelated to
scores
in
one
of
the
nine
basic reading
skill 1, which measures memoty for isoskills
sel<cted
initially.
Components
V
lated word meanings. The slight negative
through
IX
accounr
for
only
a
small
loadings of skills 6 and 7 in component
V may result from the fact that the latter fraction of the total variance, but their
measures deductive reasoning, while skills variances are significantly different.' A
number of the skills considered most im6 and 7 measure inductive processes.
Judging by its vety high loading in portant by authorities in the field of
skill 5, component VI seems to be largely
a measure of ability to grasp the detailed
statements in a passage. It is probably a
fairly direct measure of the ability to get
what 1. A. Richards has called "the literal sense m<aning" of a passage. Skill 5
was originally intended to measure this
abiliry and the results of the analysis suggest that this ability is more than a name;
it appears to be a real psychological entity distinct from other mental skills involved in reading. Component VII seems
to be a measure principally of skill 3
(ability to follow the organization of a
passage and to identify antecedents and
references in it). The variance of this
·Thc writer ls indebted to Professor T. L.
Kelley for the deYelopment of a precise test of the
variance ratios of components
obt:llned by hiS
iterarive process. This reSf is descnbed In the Jr·
ride by Pro;cssor Kelley that lmmedlatdy follows.
The differences
between tne variances of
successive components
ue all slgn!licant at tne
one.per.cent
level with tne exception of tne diffetences between tne variances of components V
and VI. and VII and VIII; those differences are
signi6cant approximately at the nve-pc:r<ent level.
It snould be noted tnat tne vanance ratio
rest of the sisni6cance of the diffCKfta
bC'tWC"Cn
component variances il pcenninc:d by the Kelle,
metnod but is not permlned by otner metnods of
factorial analysis tnu,are frequently employed.
Whetner tne variance of component IX (tne
smallen component) IS signilicantiy greater than
4
research
242
READING COMPREHENSION
RESEARCHITABLE6
V.1nance
RESEARCHITABLE7
ranos of successive
Degrees of
Freedom
Component
406
II
componentS
VarIance
192.170 }
399
F
Reliabiliry coeffiCIents. means, and St.1nd3rd
deViations of the SIX independent components
haVing reli3biliry coeificlents su~s{Jntlally
greater than zero
8.180
Component
'u
Mean
Standard
DeViation
I
.94
.48
.18
.17
.33
46.30
14.14
.81
-.62
.27
.70
13.87
4.78
2.94
2.30
1.53
1.40
11.814 }
2.663
III
403
IV
399
II
III
IV
VII
VlII
8.657 }
1.622
5.282 }
1.387
V
401
VI
401
VII
403
VIII
400
l.9;6 }
IX
400
1.006
3.828 }
1.158
5), rhe reliability coefficients of scores in
the nine components have been derer·
3.306 }
1.428
1.317}
mined empiricaJly, using the same sam-
ple of 100 cases for which odd and even
1.18!
scores in each variable were obtained in
1.944
.reading include independenr elements thar
should be raughr separately. ir is nor
enough
to assign learning exercises
in
reading rhar consist of passages followed
by facrual qucstions to be answered. Such
exercises will not necessarily call rhe student's attention
to
the separate and es-
sentially unrelated reading skills [har he
uught
to
master or give him sufficient
practice in each one of rhem.
Because individual scores in each of
[he independent components defined
above can readily be csrimared by using
appropnate regression equations \Cf.
ante, foornore following Researchffable
would be YIelded by chance may be determined
by nonng whether the rehahillty coerficlent of
component
IX IS slgnaJicantly greater than zero,
This IS not established by the data, It is highly
likely, however, rhat the vanance of che next
largest component
is sigmficandy
greater than
would be YIelded by chance.
reseorcn
.29
computing the reliability coefficients of
rhe nine inirial variables.
Inspection of Researchff able 7 reveals rhat only components I and II are
measured wirh sufficient reliability to
warrant the:ir use for practical purposes.
However, when rhe significance of rhe
reliability coefficienr or each one of ,he
nine components is tested; it becomes
evident rhat useful measures of ar least
three additional components could cerrainly be provided by constructing rhe
required number of addirional irems of
the appropriate types. Since several of
rhe components may be satisfactorily
measured, for practical purposes, by raw
scores in appropriate types of test items,
construction of a large number of rhe
indicated types of irems has already been
starred. It is believed rhat rhese may be
usefulfor instructional as well as for
-The st.1ndard error of a split·half
re!i.1DII-
iry coeffiCIent, corrected by the SpeJ.rman-Bro,,·n
formub.. mar
be obtained by
<T'll
:II
using Shen's formula.
2(1 - rll)
'w'N
FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS OF COMPREHENSION IN READING
measurement purposes when they are
employedin combination with other
workbook materials.
Since useful measures of components I and II are already available, a
profile chart for making a graphic record
of scores in these mo'O components has
been prepared and is described in considerable derail elsewhere (9).
The correlations of components I and
II with the Q and L scores derived from
the American Council on Education Psychological Examination and with the total score on the Nelson-Denny Reading
Test have also been reported in the literature (9, 370-371). It is hoped that the
relationships between components I and
II and other well·known reading tests can
be obtained, for if components I and II
are regatded as fundamental abilities in
reading it is of paramount importance to
dteermine the exrent to which the reading tests now commonly used in high
schools and colleges actUally measure
each of these abilities.
The study reported here has explored one means of investigating the
psychological nature of reading ability.
It has suggested a means of determining
the validity of tests of comptehension in
243
teading. The results indicate that thete is \
need for reliable tests to measure several
of the nine basic skills that have been I
defined and for workbooks to aid in improving students' abilities in them. The
need for correlating scores in existing
reading tests with scores in several of the
principal components seems obvious.
And, not least, the study provides more
detailed information regarding the skills
measured by the Cooperative Reading
Comprehension Tests than has heretofore been provided regarding the skills
actUally measured by any ocher widely
used reading cest.•
Finally, it is hoped thac the data presented will draw attention ro che importanCe of che mental skills invoh'ed in
reading and act as a stimulus to further
research in che fundamental facrors of
comprehension.
• Frederick
B. D.1Vls. et al.. Th~ Cooperatille Reading ComprehensIon Tesu. Lower .md
Higher Ltllds. Forms Q. R, S. and T. Eight separate 40-minutc reading tests are now aV:lIlabJe
and .are distributed by the Coopcratl\le T CSt Service, 15 Amsterdam Avenue, New York. KY., a
nonprofit agency of the Amcric.an Council on
Education.
REFERENCES
1. Adler, M. J. Ho .....to re3d a book, Ne.....Yorlc:
Simon IS.:. S..:huster, 1940.
2. Alderman, G. H. Improving comprehension
In re3dmg. j. ~dtlc. R~s.. 19~6, 13, 11-21.
3. Rerry, B. T. ImprOVing freshman reading
habIts. Engl. J.t College: EJltlun, 1931,20,
8240-828.
4. Curoll. R. P. An experimental srudy of com.prehension in reading. Ne.....York: Teachers
Coilege, Columbia Unlversiry, t 927.
5. The Cooperanvc General AchIevement Tests
(RC'\'lsedSCrles): Informanon concerning [heIr
construction, Interpretation, and usc. Ne .....
York: Cooperative Test Service. 1940.
6. The Cooperative Reading COmpreflenSIOn
Tests: Information concerning theIr construction, Intcrpreta[Jon • .1nd usc. Ne.....York:
Cooperative Test ServIce, 1940.
7. The Coopcrari~e Reading Comprehension
Tests, Lo.....er and Higher levels; Forms Qt
R, S, and T. Ne .....York: Cooperative Test
Service.
reterences