When 23 commonly taught phonics rules were analyzed in terms of consistency and complexity, it was determined that only nine appeared to be useful. (Includes a table showing the consistency of the generalizations.) (HOD)

Closely examined the effects of word length cues on cloze scores. (HOD)

If taught well, reading instruction can have a positive effect on kindergarten children. (Author/MLF)

Rebuttal to an article by Montare, Elman, and Cohen (in a previous issue of this journal) which the author claims used an incorrect model of learning to analyze his research. (HOD)

Suggests that children should be taught to blend isolated sounds into words as an aid to reading. (MKM)

Responds to preceding criticisms (see same issue) of Hill and of Pearson and Kamil to presentation of Carver's theory of reading comprehension, also published in this issue of "Reading Research Quarterly." (JM)

Investigates readability of different line lengths in advertising body copy, hypothesizing a normal curve with lower scores for shorter and longer lines, and scores above the mean for lines in the middle of the distribution. Finds support for lower scores for short lines and some evidence of two optimum line lengths rather than one. (SKC)

Reports that social studies and science passages containing hedges (such as "perhaps" or "it is possible that") led to greater learning gains than did passages without hedges. Notes that hedges expressed in personal voice, in the second half of a passage, and in low intensity especially increased retention. (JAD)

Describes two experiments showing that experienced readers use text signals to guide their attention to relevant information in a text. Indicates that subjects (1) took longer to read a summary sentence if it was signaled in advance, especially poor readers, and (2) recalled important information better if the information was signaled. (JD)

Describes two experiments that look at how a reader identifies and represents the major topics in a text and their interrelationships. The first experiment demonstrates that readers show on-line sensitivity to the organization of major text topics. The second experiment investigates the nature of such on-line processing of topic structure. (SED)

Demonstrates that children in grades one through eight have greatly disparate views of the reading process. (Author/RB)