Have you noticed how you decide which magazine to read while you're biding your time in a waiting room? Or have you ever noticed how easy some material is for you to read while other reading seems to be so difficult? Or have you ever been reading something and suddenly realized how the ideas in this piece related to your own thoughts on the subject? In all of these situations, you are relying on something called prior knowledge to aid you in reading. You will usually select a magazine based solely on the title because from the words Sports, Illustrated or Mr., you can predict what the articles would be about and that they will interest you. You find some material easy to read because you already know a good deal about the subject and so the context is familiar to you. Your reading is also greatly aided by your ability to make connections between ideas you've already thought about and the new information the reading is providing.