READABILITY, READING ABILITY, AND READERSHIP

The paper presents data describing large discrepancies between the reading difficulty levels of printed materials used in certain MOSs and the relatively lower reading ability levels of men assigned to these MOSs. There are some initial data exploring the relationship between reading ability and utilization of printed materials on the job. It is suggested that the low level of on-the-job utilization of printed materials found in the data is probably related to the difficulty of the reading tasks these materials require of the reader. Finally, an approach for identifying on-the-job reading tasks and studying their reading skill requirements is outlined.