As you are reading this post, you may wonder, "How am I absorbing this information?" In short, there are a lot of complicated processes that is involved in reading a text and incorporating the knowledge into our brains. In this post, we will explore what components and processes are involved in reading and are cognitive benefits of reading texts such as books, articles, and blog posts like this one.
- What is reading?
- Components of reading
- Cognitive effects of reading
- Summary
What is reading?
While reading is natural for most people, understanding what it really is, and what processes are involved can help you read more efficiently.
- National Accessible Reading Assessment Project (NARAP) claims that there are 3 types of reading:
- Reading is decoding and understanding written text
- Reading is decoding and understanding text for particular reader purposes
- Reading is the process of deriving meaning from text.
- Irena Kuzborska from the University of York breaks down the reading process into Knowledge Base, Cognitive Process, and Metacognitive Processes.
- The knowledge base comprises Background Knowledge, such as people and places, and Linguistic Knowledge, such as grammar and syntax.
- Cognitive Processes are composed of Comprehension Processing Strategies, such as building inferencing and organizing text-level structures, and Linguistic Processing Strategies, such as chunking into phrases and accessing the meaning of words.
- Metacognitive Processes are composed of executive control and goal-setter, such as adjusting reading style to the appropriate purpose and genre of the reading.
Components of reading
There are neurological and psychological components to reading. Here are a few of the major components of the reading process:
- Phonics: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defines it as teaching the code-based portion of reading and spelling that symbol-sound relationships.
- Decoding: is an ability to translate a word from print to speech
- Fluency: is an ability to identify rhythm, phrasing, intonation, as well as accuracy and reading rate
Cognitive effects of reading
While some studies indicate the benefits of reading for preventing cognitive decline in those with early mild cognitive impairment or dementia, some studies did not show effectiveness. Below are a few examples showing the benefits of reading:
- In 2021, a 14-year follow-up survey study in Taiwan found that leisurely reading activities were associated with better cognitive outcomes (telling the time/location, remembering personal information, and counting backward).
- In 2010, the University of Liverpool found that reading in groups and engaging in stimulating activities together could significantly improve the mental health of depressed patients.
- A 2015 study at Northern Arizona University found that Intergenerational Program (IGP), which involves putting together school-aged children and older adults to read together, did not show any improvement in cognitive function level or mood but did improve the quality of the relationship between older adults and children.
Summary
In this post, we explored what reading is, what is involved in reading, and explored the potential benefit of reading. Although this is not an exhaustive list, we hope this has helped you understand what is involved in reading and what could be some of the benefits of reading!
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