Cognitive Clarity Theory of Learning to Read

The cognitive clarity theory of learning to read was proposed by educational psychologist John Downing, presented to the United Kingdom Literacy Association's annual meeting in July 1971. The theory rejected the then-common idea that learning to read draws on some special or uniquely evolved trait, arguing instead that reading is learned through general intellectual abilities, so that an understanding of cognition can explain how children learn to read. Downing's model described the cognitive processes a child works through while attaining literacy, holding that success or failure depends on variables including the child's spoken language, the written language being learned, and the surrounding teaching culture.