Many Levels of Reading Understanding

Reading provides an excellent field laboratory to explore understanding, particularly when it is pleasure reading. Experiments on reading understanding seem to support the idea that, at least with respect to this type of materials, readers agree about the content they have read.

But, while readers seem agree it is clear that readers understand the content at various levels. Children, young adults, college graduates are just some of the categories of people that in average exhibit varying degrees and levels of understanding. In general, the acceptance that there are multiple levels of reading understanding seems to be universal. This begs questions about those levels. For example:

1. Are the various reading understanding levels completely distinct, do they partially overlap, or completely overlap as in being organized as layers of understanding?
2. Can one say that one level of understanding is greater or higher than another level?

The answers seem obvious but, in light of the individual differences among readers, the issues discussed in other posts about information, there is at least one level wherein readers would have the same understanding, a level of common understanding, the lowest level of understanding. If so, which is this level?

This is not a novel idea but rather one that has been and is constantly examined to gain more understanding about the different factors affecting the reading experience. I am sure that there are many people interested and knowledgeable on these issues, such as reading specialists, teachers, researchers on communication, and members of other similar groups.