> The big boost in program readability is following a style guide with the rules for naming, indentation, commenting, and other important features, plus automated or manual style reviews.

I completely agree. I just wondered if there has been done any research where programmers are presented with some code they've never seen before and then the time is measured until they have understood the code (e.g. can correctly answer some test questions regarding the function of the code). In such a scenario one could try to find a "best" style guide, i.e. a style guide where most programmers understand new code the quickest. Have you ever heard of such research?