Critical Perspectives in Reading: Disjunctive Categories in Ephemeral Models

Abstract

The word is one of today's most popular words. Unfortunately the word is so loosely used as to cause confusion even though its purpose is to clarify (Kingston, 1965). Reading is not the only discipline in which the word is used to describe different behaviors. The term also is loosely employed in education, psychology, sociology, and even the physical sciences. A number of so-called models have been developed to explain reading behavior. Among them is a sub-strata factor model, a psycholinguistic model, some linguistic models as well as learning and perception models (Singer, 1970; Davis, 1971). Typically these models of reading are labeled partial models. A partial model implies that the inventor of the model recognizes that the model describes only a few kinds of reading behavior. Most models of reading come equipped with flow charts or circuit diagrams which resemble electrical wiring diagrams or PERT charts. Few if any of the models provide either operational or functional definitions, and so far as I can determine, none presents important concepts in mathematical terms. Finally few, if any, of the current reading models lend themselves to empirical verification or can be used to predict reading behavior (Kingston, 1970). One genuine problem faced by those who build reading models lies in the lack of adequate reading theory (Kingston 1968a, 1968b). Again there seems to be some differences in opinion concerning the relationship of model to theory and vice versa. Some seem to employ the words as synonyms which can be freely interchanged. Others believe that an adequate theory must precede model building. Still others appear to believe that modeling, particularly the development of partial models, leads to better theory because models help explain complex processes. Brodbeck (1959) has stressed that the practice of using the term as a synonym for theory is redundant and unnecessary. Perhaps a major source of this confusion stems from the fairly common usage by researchers of terms like statis-