While the use of informational graphics in newspapers is increasing, little is known regarding how well readers can understand them and how readers use them. A study investigated whether readers of newspapers read graphics before or after they read the headline/text, and whether people decide to read a graphic device for appearance-related or content-related reasons. Subjects, 70 undergraduate students at two universities, were shown two separate "packages" from "USA Today" (one with a dominant graphic, and one with a non-dominant graphic) consisting of news articles, a headline, and a graphic device. They were then asked five questions based on the content of the graphic devices in the two packages. Results suggest that readers turn to graphics for both content-based and appearance-related reasons, which may be based on individual tastes or on the dominant status of the graphic. For example, 70% of the subjects read the dominant graphic before the headline/text, while the smaller, less ostensible graphic was generally read after the headline and text. Results also suggest that readers went to the informational graphics largely for content-related reasons, indicating that there may be a need to emphasize the information in infographics. (Eight tables of data and 25 notes are included. An appendix contains the two packages.) (SR)