Bringing schemata and purposes to bear, these subjects would typically read by scanning rapidly over tables of contents, using certain words to trigger their attention and question a particular title more actively. If a particular term attracted their attention, they would look at other words in the title with the result that about two-thirds of the titles more closely examined were subsequently rejected based on this additional information. If even more information was needed to make further selections, they would turn to the abstract.
Having identified an article of interest, they would read parts of it selectively and non-sequentially, jumping back and forth, perhaps reading conclusions then introductions, perhaps scanning figures, and reading those sections more carefully that fit their purpose. If an article did not readily fit with their comprehension schemata, the readers would weigh the cost of working through the difficulty against the potential gain relative to their purposes. If they chose to read through a difficult article or portion, they would occasionally pause at length to work through the implications of what had been read, or read it through several times. They might also look up background material in reference works and textbooks.