Speeded reading and listening comprehension for easy and difficult materials

Compared comprehension for speeded reading and for listening to compressed speech. A reading and a listening group of 30 undergraduates were presented with 3 easy and 3 difficult passages, with 1 passage at each difficulty level presented at each of 3 speeds, 180, 290, and 380 words/min. No differences between reading and listening comprehension levels or quality were found at any of the speeds or difficulty levels, contrary to previous suggestions of a listening disadvantage. Reading and listening comprehension were related to Ss' habitual reading speeds. There was evidence of a working-memory processing limit of about 275 words/min. This processing limit indicates the importance of silent reading strategies. (30 ref)