ABSTRACT
The development of written language ranks among humankind’s great cognitive and cultural achievements. Written language allows us to communicate meanings to others across vast distances of time and space. Unlike spoken language, written language is acquired only with instruction and effort, and thus cannot be said to reflect the natural unfolding of a genetic program. Written language represents a true achievement of human cognition, and apparently an achievement not easily come by: successful written languages have developed independently at only a few places and times in human history (for a history of written-language development see DeFrancis, 1989). Therefore, a better understanding of the reading process is important not only for its own sake, but also because it promises to reveal some of the basic principles of human cognitive representation, computation, and problem-solving. Furthermore, an understanding of the reading process provides a basis for understanding the difficulties that many individuals experience when initially learning to read, or subsequent to neural injury.
