In this regard, since auding and reading seem to lead to common comprehension points, it appears that it should be possible to construct auding and reading test batteries which would be useful in indicating discrepancies between these skills, and for estimating how much improvement in reading might be expected in a literacy training program. It would also be possible to measure a person's ability to comprehend language by auding (without imposing on him the reading decoding task) and then, having discovered his auding language level, to determine whether he is reading below his auding level and, if he is, how far below, The first goal of literacy training might then be to train the person to comprehend by reading what he can comprehend by auding.

Finally, an additional factor which serves to distinguish auding and reading pertains to the function of peripheral vision. In reading, much structured information is derived from the peripheral field and processed preattentively. This peripheral information provides advance knowledge about the message, while serving to direct the course of the subsequent eye movement. Obviously, no such information is obtainable from the speech message. Through the use of contextual and linguistic information, however, some expectations can be formulated in regard to speech; yet this information is not actually available in the display for preattentive processing.

By way of summary, we see that auding shares many of the same characteristics as reading, beginning with the prerequisites of attention and memory. Beyond that, both require the acquisition of language-of understanding the system for selecting and sequencing conventionalized signs. Furthermore, it is necessary that these signs be decoded and processed into conceptualizations. That is, auding and reading both imply the recognition and conversion of symbolization into meaningful cognitive content. In addition, both skills rely upon the ability to form discriminations between stimuli (either visual or auditory), and depend on the development of higher order strategies (e.g., chunking) for subsequent improvement. To state it concisely, auding and reading differ primarily in the manner in which the individual receives the stimulus words; they are similar in the sense that they are both receptive communication acts that require a central language and conceptualizing base.