ABSTRACT
In an ongoing research and development program, we have been studying reading as an information processing skill used in work settings (cf. Sticht, 1975a; Sticht, Beck, Hauke, Kleiman & James, 1974) so that we will better understand “the nature of literacy and its consequences” (Olson, 1975, p. 118). This understanding should include knowledge about the competencies developed by literates as contrasted with illiterates or marginally literate persons, as discussed by Olson. Additionally, the role of literacy in various sociopolitical/economic/domestic/personal activities needs clarification. Such clarification is essential to the development of the types of social programs which aim at “… obtaining basic social and economic parity among groups and individuals in the society. It involves the simultaneous assessment of the critical demands made by society on the literacy skills of individuals and the development of tools to determine individual competence in these skills” (Miller, 1973, p. 4).
