The Reading Mind Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  List of Tables and Figures

  About the Author

  Acknowledgment

  Introduction: The Chicken Milanese Problem How Do You Make Chicken Milanese?

  Let's Do It Anyway

  The Plan of the Book

  References

  1 On Your Marks How Writing Might Work

  Sound and Meaning

  References

  2 Sound It Out Challenge 1: The Letters

  Challenge 2: The Sounds

  Challenge 3: The Mapping

  Summing Up

  References

  3 Reading at a Glance Spelling Representations in the Mind

  What Does Spelling Knowledge Look Like?

  Why Orthographic Representations Matter

  How Orthographic Representations Develop

  References

  4 Words, Words, Words The Baffling Complexity of Word Knowledge

  How Words Are Organized in the Mind

  Coping with Missing Meanings

  But What Does a Word Really Mean?

  Why Breadth and Depth Matter

  The Process of Learning New Words

  References

  5 Reading Comprehension Task Analysis of Reading Comprehension

  Extracting Ideas from Sentences

  Connecting Ideas

  The Situation Model

  Becoming a Better Reader

  References

  6 Becoming a Reader Attitudes, Motivation, and Reading

  Attitudes Toward Reading

  Motivation

  Self‐Concept

  Getting Kids to Read

  References

  7 Reading After the Digital Revolution Digital Tools for Reading

  Indirect Effects

  The Age of Distraction

  References

  Conclusion Practitioners

  Policymakers

  On the Beauty of Theory

  References

  Works Cited

  Index

  Notes

  End User License Agreement

  List of Tables

  Chapter 01 Table 1.1. Watching a cash register. Observations of a cash register might lead to basic principles of arithmetic.

  Chapter 06 Table 6.1. Examples personal to the author of how motivation relates to the value and expectation associated with different behaviors.

  Chapter 07 Table 7.1. Children's report of time spent per day on activity with media.

  Conclusion Table C.1. Conclusions drawn.

  List of Illustrations

  Introduction Figure I.1. One letter, different fonts. These letters must all be interpreted as equivalent, even though they look different.

  Figure I.2. Ambiguous letters. Although I'm sure you read this sentence easily, if you look closely you'll notice the “e”s in the word “need” are the same shape as the “c” in “clean.” And the same shape is interpreted as a “v” and as a “u” in the word “volunteer.”

  Figure I.3. Reversible figures. At left, the black area can be seen as an object (vase) and the white area as background, or the white area seen as the object (dog profiles) and the black as background. At right, the mirror is seen as background when we focus on the woman and her reflection, but it may also been seen as the foreground object—a skull.

  Figure I.4. Medicine packaging. Literate people likely do not notice how frequently they rely on the ability to read. Here I've blurred the print on medicine packaging to help you imagine being unable to read, and trying to select a medicine for your child's sore throat, perhaps by attempting to match packaging with your memory of television commercials.

  Chapter 01 Figure 1.1. A pictograph of a ram.

  Figure 1.2. The ambiguity of pictographs. The Korean highway sign offers fairly unambiguous pictographs: food, gas, auto repair. Some jokester has added text to the pictographs on the bathroom hand drier showing that they are ambiguous, even if the alternative interpretation is improbable.

  Figure 1.3. Writing is a code for what you say. The top row shows written communication that directly codes meaning. The bottom row shows written communication that codes thoughts into words, and then words into sound.

  Figure 1.4. The relationship of word sound and meaning.

  Figure 1.5. Letters, translation rules, sound, and meaning.

  Figure 1.6. The phonemes used in American English. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

  Chapter 02 Figure 2.1. Natural scene with T's and L's. T shapes and L shapes are commonly observed in the outlines of objects.

  Figure 2.2. Alphabetic shapes. This graph shows that alphabets use shapes commonly seen in the natural environment. The vertical axis shows the frequency that a particular shape is observed in alphabets. The horizontal axis shows the frequency that the shape is observed in a large set of photographs of natural scenes.

  Figure 2.3. Letter confusion matrix. Preschool children were shown a letter and were asked to name it. The rows show the letter presented, and the columns show what the child said, with the numbers showing how often each response was offered. Thus, the diagonal (the large numbers) represents correct responses. As you can see, “b” and “d” were highly confusable for these children.

  Figure 2.4. Letter features. These features are basic constituents of letters. “L” contains a horizontal line, vertical line, and a corner. “P” contains a vertical line and a semi‐circle, and so on. More features would be needed to capture all the letters in the Roman alphabet.

  Figure 2.5. Letter identification network. Letters are composed of constituents shown as activated nodes in this model of visual letter recognition.

  Figure 2.6. Visual representation of the sound of a spoken sentence. The author is saying “We're having bacon for breakfast.” Time moves left to right, and the vertical axis shows sound intensity. You can see the words “We're” and “having” blend together, and there is a break in the middle of the word “bacon.”

  Figure 2.7. Comparison of accents. The George Mason University speech accent archive (www.accent.gmu.edu) maintains a database of English speakers with different backgrounds, each uttering the same paragraph, shown at the left. The center panel shows the phonetic transcription of a 37‐year‐old Glasgow native, and at right, a Russian of the same age who has been learning English for one year. I've highlighted a few of the differences.

  Figure 2.8. Visual illusion. You've likely seen this illusion before, the point being that the central circles appear to be different sizes because of the surrounding circles. In a similar fashion, context influences how we evaluate speech sounds, so thinking about them in isolation is very difficult.

  Figure 2.9. First‐grade reading proficiency in European countries. The numbers are the average percentages of one‐syllable words that children could read correctly at the end of first grade. Portuguese, French, and Danish, like English, have less consistent mappings between sounds and letters than other languages do.

  Figure 2.10. Average results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) administered to 10‐year‐olds around the world. The scale goes from 0‐1,000, with higher numbers reflecting better performance. The fourth‐graders in England, Portugal, and Denmark score quite well, even though first‐graders in those countries struggle with the difficult letter‐sound mapping. These results show that most children are able to learn the mapping.

  Chapter 03 Figure 3.1. Letters, sounds, and meaning.

  Figure 3.2. Letters, sounds, meaning, and spelling. Experienced readers can access word meaning not only through sound, but via another route that directly matches letters to knowle
dge of how words are spelled.

  Figure 3.3. How one might assume words are identified. The word on the page goes into the eye, then your mind figures out the letters, and then your mind puts the letters together to figure out what word they spell.

  Figure 3.4. How words are identified—a more complete model. The process that identifies the word can inform the process identifying letters; knowledge of what words are possible can constrain what letters might be on the page.

  Figure 3.5. Ambiguous letters. The “v” and the “u” in “volunteer” are the same shape. So are the “c” and the “e” in “clean.”

  Figure 3.6. Digits can substitute for letters.

  Figure 3.7. Silent reading. The sense that we hear a voice in our head when we read can be very strong.

  Chapter 04 Figure 4.1. Letters, sound, spelling, and meaning.

  Figure 4.2. Alternative representations for word definitions. Top, how we might imagine watermelon and apple are represented in the mind. Bottom, a more workable type of representation. Note that in each case we're looking at a more detailed view of the “word meanings” component of the model from Figure 4.1.

  Figure 4.3. A meaning network for the concept spill. Such a network represents the associations between active and related concepts.

  Figure 4.4. Words activate related words. This graph shows the time it took people to verify that each of two letter strings formed a word. Verification time was faster when the words were related, compared to when they were not.

  Figure 4.5. Expanded network of word meanings for spill.

  Chapter 05 Figure 5.1. Model of reading expanded to include sentence representations. The representation of sentence meaning is based on word meanings and rules of syntax.

  Figure 5.2. A cartoon of the mental representation of a simple sentence. Psychologists who study language use more complex (and more realistic) models of how the mind represents meaning, but this figure gives you the basic notion of simple ideas connecting.

  Figure 5.3. Mental representation of two sentences. The top part of the figure shows the representation of the previous sentence read (The juice in the trunk) and the new sentence just read. The bottom part of the figure shows the connection a reader would typically make. Both sentences contain the same referent, “juice,” so that would be the point of connection.

  Figure 5.4. Multiple sentences. The top part of the figure shows the growing mental representation of what's been read. The bottom shows the representation of the sentence just read. The reader must find a sensible place in the representation of what's been read to connect the new sentence.

  Figure 5.5. Model of reading expanded to include the idea‐web. The idea‐web is a representation of the ideas in the text, connected. There's an arrow going from the idea‐web to the sentence representation because the idea‐web—your ongoing understanding of the text—can influence how to interpret a particular sentence, as we saw in the “cut up a slice of cooked ham” example in Chapter 4.

  Figure 5.6. Model of reading expanded to include the situation model. The situation model is constructed from the ideas in the idea‐web, but can also be updated directly from ongoing processing of sentences. The situation model can also influence the interpretation of individual sentences, as well as their place in the idea‐web.

  Figure 5.7. Comparison of comprehension supported by reading skills or background knowledge. The graph shows how much readers remembered of a text about soccer. Kids identified as having “high verbal skills” remembered a bit more than kids with “low verbal skills” (compare the dark and light bars). But that effect is tiny compared to the effect of knowledge of soccer.

  Chapter 06 Figure 6.1. Reading virtuous cycle. The more you read, the more proficient a reader you are. Proficiency makes it easier to enjoy reading, and enjoying it make your attitude more positive, which prompts you to read more often.

  Figure 6.2. Reading virtuous cycle with self‐concept added.

  Chapter 07 Figure 7.1. Tree octopus. A screenshot from the website describing the fictitious tree octopus.

  Figure 7.2. Graph of word consumption. These are based on a national sample of adults. Note that the measure is “words,” so they might be spoken, sung, or written.

  Conclusion Figure C.1. Model of reading.

  PRAISE FOR THE READING MIND

  “Daniel Willingham pulls back the curtain on the fascinating process of reading, explaining the discoveries of cognitive science in clear, accessible prose. For the many fans of Why Don't Students Like School, Willingham's new book offers more of the rigorous yet enjoyable science writing we love.”

  —Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Brilliant Blog

  “This is a superb book. Willingham's ability to make cognitive research on reading coherent and comprehensible is exceptional. I wish that it had been available when I taught courses about research on reading to education doctoral students. This book should be standard fare in every doctoral education course on reading.”

  —Isabel L. Beck, professor emerita, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh

  “What goes on in the mind as we read? How do people learn to read? What motivates some to read more than others? Does reading online differ from reading books? For those curious about these questions, and for those who care about children learning to read and growing as readers, this delightful, easy‐to‐read book explains this highly complex topic through fascinating studies and lively examples. With probing questions after each chapter, The Reading Mind will make a terrific book club read or textbook.”

  —Ellen McIntyre, dean and professor, College of Education, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

  “This is the book we've been waiting for. Willingham captures the magic of reading while simultaneously demystifying how we read. He brings key experimental findings to light as he takes us on the journey from recognizing individual words to constructing meaning from text. Beautifully written, clear and accessible, yet still embracing complexities rather than shying away from them—this book is essential reading for anyone interested in how we read.”

  —Kate Nation, professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford; fellow and tutor in Psychology, St. John's College

  “Yet again, Daniel Willingham proves himself genius extraordinaire at translating research to practice! At once a brilliant tutorial on how the bitwise investigations of the research lab have evolved into the ever more powerful and comprehensive models that now dominate cognitive science, and a blueprint for educational excellence, this book is a must for educational practitioners, policymakers, and students. No more top‐down versus bottom‐up reading wars: language, literacy, and knowledge are all of one piece and so, too, must be their development.”

  —Marilyn Jager Adams, visiting scholar at Brown University

  “Dan Willingham has done it again! This is another of his essential books for educational professionals, and anyone else interested in the reading process—sharing the cognitive science and practical implications of research in the domain of reading. No one does this kind of book better than Willingham!”

  —Keith Stanovich, author of Progress in Understanding Reading and The Rationality Quotient

  “This book is like a Malcolm Gladwell for anyone who is fascinated with how the mind works in literacy development. Willingham mixes his wonderful sense of humor with examples that are simply fun to read while conveying very important concepts about reading. Students will love it; parents will understand it; and scholars will wish that they wrote it!”

  —Susan B. Neuman, professor of childhood education and literacy development, New York University

  “The Reading Mind is an indispensable exploration of not only how we read, but why we read. An easy and entertaining read that draws on the science of the brain, books, and behavior, Willingham's work will deepen your understanding of the many facets of reading and literacy, as well as how the brain processes what amounts to an astoundingly complex and historically unlikely process. The Re
ading Mind should be required reading for anyone with a vested interest in the written word.”

  —Kristofor Lauricella, history teacher, High School for Youth & Community Development, Brooklyn, New York

  THE READING MIND

  A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads

  DANIEL T. WILLINGHAM

  Copyright © 2017 by Daniel T. Willingham. All rights reserved.

  Published by Jossey‐Bass

  A Wiley Brand

  One Montgomery Street, Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94104‐4594—www.josseybass.com

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978‐750‐8400, fax 978‐646‐8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201‐748‐6011, fax 201‐748‐6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

  Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.