Matthew Effects in Reading: Some Consequences of Individual Differences in the Acquisition of Literacy

TLDR

Reading ability and cognitive processes are reciprocally linked, and organism–environment correlation means advantaged individuals experience nonrandom environmental quality. The authors present a framework that synthesizes literature on reading ability differences, proposes hypotheses for rich‑get‑richer and poor‑get‑poorer patterns, and applies it to reading disability and remediation. The framework emphasizes reading’s effects on cognitive development and bootstrapping relationships, outlining mechanisms that generate unequal reading achievement. Applying the framework clarifies persistent reading‑disability literature problems and guides remediation efforts.

Abstract

A framework for conceptualizing the development of individual differences in reading ability is presented that synthesizes a great deal of the research literature. The framework places special emphasis on the effects of reading on cognitive development and on “bootstrapping” relationships involving reading. Of key importance are the concepts of reciprocal relationships—situations where the causal connection between reading ability and the efficiency of a cognitive process is bidirectional-and organism-environment correlation—the fact that differentially advantaged organisms are exposed to nonrandom distributions of environmental quality. Hypotheses are advanced to explain how these mechanisms operate to create rich-get-richer and poor-get-poorer patterns of reading achievement. The framework is used to explicate some persisting problems in the literature on reading disability and to conceptualize remediation efforts in reading.