Modification of deficits in reading for comprehension.

Subjects were asked to read a passage orally and then to answer questions about the passage. When praise and pennies were given for correct answers, the percentage of correct answers increased in two sixth-grade subjects whose reading for comprehension was tested to be 2 yr below grade level. The behavior of these subjects was compared to that of two subjects whose reading for comprehension was tested to be on grade level. Although no evidence for changes in the accuracy of answering comprehension questions is found in the previous literature, the percentage of correct answers in the children with deficits increased to approximately the same level as the children tested to be on grade level.