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Information processing is discussed as a rapid coalescing of basic disciplines around a point of view with relevance to the reading processes and ultimately to learning to read. Two types of reading models under information processing are analyzed: the O-type model which delineates the organismic systems operating between input and output at a psychological level, and the S-type model which concerns the transformations of the information itself from the printed pattern into meaningful language of a form appropriate to the intended output. These models are conceived of as contributing not directly to reading instruction, but to serve as a seminal focus for further research in a variety of disciplines. Some of these processes unfamiliar to reading teachers should add genuinely new dimensions to the teaching of reading, since they provide a more precise basis for diagnosis and remediation and could serve a taxonomic function for the structuring of individualized reading programs. The author feels that it is the researcher's job to find out more about these processes so that research could move from the laboratory into the classroom. References are included. (AW)

The problems of modeling a process as complex as reading are discussed, including such factors as the lack of agreement surrounding definitions of modeling, varying levels of rigor within and between models, the disjunctive categories within which models fall, and the difficulty of synthesis across fields which employ very different technical language. The author emphasizes the natural tendency for information processing models to cut across traditional disciplines and suggests a conceptual strategy whereby the many models contained in the Davis Report can be approached for synthesis. (Author/AW)

A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DELINEATE HOW PERCEPTION OCCURS DURING ORAL READING. FROM AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSICAL AND MODERN RESEARCH, A HEURISTIC MODEL WAS CONSTRUCTED WHICH DELINEATED THE DIRECTLY INTERACTING SYSTEMS POSTULATED AS FUNCTIONING DURING ORAL READING. THE MODEL AS OUTLINED WAS DIFFERENTIATED LOGICALLY INTO THREE MAJOR PROCESSING FUNCTIONS--SENSORY, RECOGNITIONAL, AND RESPONSE. DATA WERE DERIVED FROM 2,465 EYE-VOICE SPAN PAIRINGS FURNISHED BY EIGHT SUBJECTS READING THREE PASSAGES OF VARYING DIFFICULTY. THE SYNCHRONIZATION OF RECORDINGS USING THE GILBERT EYE-MOVEMENT CAMERA AND TAPED ORAL READING SHOWED RELATIVELY CONSTANT EYE-VOICE SPAN. CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MEASURES OF SMOOTH READING AND THE CONSTANCY OF TEMPORAL EYE-VOICE SPAN WERE HIGH. THE ESTIMATED TIME ELAPSING BETWEEN EYE AND VOICE DURING SMOOTH READING WAS VALIDATED. REESTABLISHING A STEADY STATE FOLLOWING AN INTERRUPTION WAS NOT STATISTICALLY STABLE. THE USE OF MULTIPLE FIXATIONS, REGRESSIONS, AND PROLONGED FIXATION PAUSES WAS SUBSTANTIATED, AND SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS AMONG EYE-MOVEMENT PATTERNS WERE FOUND. THE NEED TO TEMPORALLY BALANCE INPUT AND OUTPUT SYSTEMS AND THE NEED TO CORRECT EYE-FUNCTIONING IN ORDER TO REESTABLISH TEMPORAL BALANCE WERE EVIDENT. THE MODEL WAS DECLARED INCOMPLETE, AND, ALTHOUGH IT MAY ADD TO CUMULATIVE KNOWLEDGE OF READING PHENOMENA, HAS LITTLE TO OFFER THE TEACHER AT PRESENT. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSN. CONF., (SEATTLE, MAY 4-6, 1967). (MC)

The role and importance of time was stressed as a key factor in an alternative theoretical viewpoint to the classic reading theory, which suggests that speed and comprehension are the two important dimensions of reading. Noting newer language processing models which detail the multiple interacting systems operating across time during the processing of information and which acknowledge time as the important variable, it was contended that the temporal measure needed is one which would reflect overall processing variables. Included in these are the ability to recognize words, to group them into meaningful units by the effective use of storage, and to keep all systems in balanced equilibrium during ongoing processing. The measure suggested was called the "coefficient of constancy" (C) of the temporal eye-voice span. For each fixation in a passage it measures the amount of time elapsing between the beginning of the fixation and the end of the voicing of the fixated word. The mean of such spans is divided by their standard deviation to acquire C, which was proposed as a means of reexamining basic ideas concerning the nature of the reading process and as a possible measure which would reflect this process. References, including several to tests of the proposed measure's validity, are given. (BT)

Critiques Robert Geeslin's article on HEW's Targeted Research and Development Program on Reading which appeared in Journal of Reading Behavior, Volume 2, Number 3, Summer, 1970, and describes the project as providing a flexible framework and a broad base for further research in reading. References. (VJ)