Finds significantly more errors and a higher percentage of detrimental errors on passages composed of later appearing structures. Supports Goodman's view of the reading process (that reading is a "psycholinguistic guessing game"), and indicates a need for more sophisticated readability formulas. (RL)

The distinguishing characteristics and relationships found among the "Analytical Reading Inventory," the "Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty," and the Spache "Diagnostic Reading Scales" in terms of readability levels, oral and silent reading results, and independent and instructional reading levels were examined in a study involving 117 first,…