ABSTRACT
Unifying reading and writing under the aegis of a theory of general cognition is a timely and inevitable scientific step. The importance of this step can be stated simply: Any theory of reading or writing that does not eventually align with a broader theory of general cognition will not endure. Reading and writing are cognitive acts, but there is nothing about either of them that does not occur in other cognitive acts that do not involve reading or writing. That is, we perceive, discriminate, analyze, synthesize, interpret, anticipate, comprehend, compose, imagine, remember, and express ourselves without text as well as with text. Stated differently, cognition in literacy is a special case of general cognition involving written language. Any theory of reading or writing that does not eventually align with some theory of general cognition will either require revision or languish as the fields of psychology and literacy advance.
