ABSTRACT
The nature of the association between literacy and cognitive development in both individuals and in societies has been provocatively discussed in communication (McLuhan, 1962), social anthropology (Goody, 1987), classics (Havelock, 1982), cognitive psychology (Olson, 1986), and general linguistics (R. Harris, 1989). The core issue in the debate is captured by Havelock’s (1982, p. 82) statement that “The Greeks did not just invent the alphabet; they invented literacy and the literate basis of modern thought.”
