The effect on reading speed of the number of target items being searched for and the number of target occurrences in the text was examined. The subjects, 24 college undergraduate volunteers, were presented with a list of target words, and then they read a passage for comprehension which contained occurrences of the target words (Experiment1) or close associates of the target words (Experiment 2). The number of target words (1, 2, or 4) was combined factorially with the number of occurrences (0, 1, 2, or 4) in a within-subjects design. In both experiments, reading speed was affected only by the number of words in the target list. Neither of the variables had any effect on comprehension. The results indicated that central memory load limits reading speed, but scanning and decoding processes are so automated that they are unaffected by the additional tallying operation required of the subjects in this task. Tables and references are included. (Author/VJ)