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Jan 1, 1000
Mental Discipline Theory
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), the Mental Discipline Theory is traced to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Within the Mental Discipline Theory learning focuses on drill and rote memorization. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), in reference to Arisotle's view, "the mind is like a muscle--its various parts, or faculties, need to be exercised regularly" (p. 18). -
Jan 10, 1000
Associationism Theory
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "associationism is a theory of psychology and education that is devoted to the study of how learning occurs" (p.20). Aristotle "coined" the Associationism Theory which looks at how events or ideas can become connected or associated with another event or idea within the mind (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). In general Associationsim is about making connections. Aristotle believed knowledge is derived from experiences (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: Jan 10, 1000 to Jan 10, 1300
Early Literacy Theories (20,000 B.C.E.- 400 B.C.E.)
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "communication in the form of cave writing was identified in France in the approximate year of 20,000 B.C.E..." (p.18). Early literacies began with those cave writings and evolved to significant works of literature in the Greek culture around 750 B.C.E. (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Unfoldment Theory
Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Froebel developed the Unfoldment Theory in the 1700s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Unfoldment Theory is based upon the idea that learning is due to the individuals curiosity (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "the Unfoldment perspective, postulated that children's learning would evolve naturally as a result of their innate curiosity" (p.24). In summary, children will learn in a natural unfolding of information (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
1700s-1920s
The large time span encompasses four major theories of reading. -
Structuralism
Structuralism was developed in the 1870s by Wundt, Cattell, Javal, Quantz and Dearborn (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), Structuralism is a theory used to explain the structure of the mind through perception. Structuralism's focus was not on reading in and of itself rather on the general psychological functioning (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Structuralism also focuses on print perception (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning was developed by Pavlov in the 1920s and falls under the Behaviorism category (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Another theorist Watson, was known as the father of Behaviorism (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "classical conditioning occurs when two stimuli become paired, eventually both eliciting the same response" (p. 41). Classical Conditioning pairs association and conditioning together (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Connectionism
Connectionism was developed in the 1920s by Thorndike (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Thorndike focused his attention on the idea that the stimuli occuring after a behavior also had an effect on future behaviors (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), Thorndike created Connectionism and four laws: Law of Effect, the Law of Readiness, the Law of Identical Elements and the Law of Exercise (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Inquiry Learning Theory
The Inquiry Learning Theory was developed in the 1920s by Dewey (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), the Inquiry Learning Theory emphasizes the growth of the individual, the importance of the enviornment and the role of the teacher. According to Cambourne (2002), the Inquiry Learning Theory is a Constructivism Theory as knowledge and meaning are socially constructed. -
Period: to
1930s
There are five major theories developed in the 1930s. -
Schema Theory
The Schema Theory was developed by Bartlett in the 1930s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Schema Theory explains how knowledge is created and used by the learner (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The majory idea behind the Schema Theory is that schemata is individualized (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). There are three types of schema; accretation, tuning, and restructuring (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Transactional/Reader Response Theory
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), Rosenblatt extended teh idea of Schema Theory to the field of reading in the 1930s with the Transactional/ Reader Response Theory. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "Rosenblatt argued that every reading experience is therefore unique to each individual..." (p. 65). The idea behind the Transactional/Reader Response Theory is the notion that all readers have individual reading experiences (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Theory of Cognitive Development
The Theory of Cognitive Development was developed by Piaget in the 1930s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Cognitive Development Theory describes the way children's thinking changes over time (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Piaget identified four factors that affect the quality of an individual's thinking: biological maturation, activity, social experiences, and equilibration (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Going along with the four factors that affect the quality of thinking Piaget describes four stages as well. -
Maturation Theory
The Maturation Theory was developed by Morphett and Washburne in the 1930s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "this theory stated that reading instruction should not be implemented until students reached the age of 6 1/2 years" (p, 94). Washburne and Morphett believed that parents should not teach reading to their children at home either before the age of maturation (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Operant Conditioning Theory
The Operant Conditioning Theory was developed in the 1950s by Skinner (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Skinner often referred to the Operant Conditioning Theory as programmed learning or programmed instruction (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The idea behind the Operant Conditioning Theory is using positive and negative reinforcements to elicit desired behavior. Another part of the Operant Conditioning Theory is using small steps in instruction (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
1950s
There is only one major theory dating back to the 1950s. -
Information Processing Model
Atkinson and Shiffrin developed the Information Processing Model in the 1960s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Information Processing Model discusses the ways in which information is retained (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), in reference to what the Information Processing Model entails, "...processing, storage, and retrieval of knowldge from the mind" (p. 152). This model describes short term, long term and working memory (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
1960
There is one major theory of reading within the 1960s. -
Psycholinguistic Theory
The Psycholinguistic Theory was developed in the 1970s by Smith and Goodman (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Psycholinguistic Theory focuses on linguistics, psychological processes and language acquisition (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), " a central component of the Psycholinguistic Theory of reading is that readers rely on language cueing systems to help them rapidly read text" (p.68). -
Period: to
1970s
There are several influential theories of the 1970s. -
Metacognitive Theory
Flavell and Brown developed the Metacognitive Theory in the 1970s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "metacognition is the process of thinking about one's own thinking" (p. 71). An essential component of the Metacognitive Theory is the teacher using the gradual release of responsibility when explicitly teaching and then asking student to independently complete the task (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Engagement Theory
Guthrie and Wigfield developed the Engagement Theory in the 1970s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "the Engagement Theory seeks to articulate the differences between "engaged" and "disengaged" readers, and to provide direction to educators on how to help students become more engaged" (p. 75). The Engagement Theory has aspects of the Metacognitive Theory as well as some social aspects (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Theory of Literacy Development
The Theory of Literacy Development was developed in the 1970s by Holdaway (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Theory of Literacy Development discusses the nature of literacy learning and explains four processes central to literacy learning (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), Holdaway believed that learning to read beings at home and parents are the models for children. Holdaway discussed the importance of a rich home literacy environment (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Social Constructivism
Vygotsky developed the Social Constructivism Theory in tje 1970s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "the premise of Vygotsky's work is the belief that children learn as a result of their social interactions with others" (p.127). Two key components of Social Constructivism are the zone of proximal development and scaffolding (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Social Learning Theory
The Social Learning Theory was developed by Bandura in the 1970s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Social Learning Theory combines behaviorism and social learning to discuss how we learn from observing others (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). There are four stages of Social Learning: attentional phase, retention phase, reproduction phase and the reinforcement phase (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Gough's Model
Gough's Model was developed in the 1970s by Gough (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "early cognitive models of reading such as Gough's became known as "bottom-up" information-processing models..." (p. 154). Gough's Model discusses the stage of a reader as a decoder which helps the teacher decipher the point in which a student stumbles in reading (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Stage Models of Reading
The Stage Models of Reading were developed in the 1980s by Ehri, Chall, Gough and Frith (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The idea behind the Stage Models of Reading is that children approach the task of reading qualitatively change as they mature (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "Stage Model theorists believe that as children's reading skills develop, they increase both the number and type of strategies that they can use during reading experiences" (p.97). -
Period: to
1980s
There are several major theories of readings that came about int he 1980s. -
Emergent Literacy Theory
Clay developed the Emergent Literacy Theory in the 1980s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "the term "emergent literacy" refers to a period in a child's life between birth and when the child can read and write at a conventional level" (p. 99). The Emergent Literacy Theory encompasses literacy development in the areas of: listening, speaking, reading and writing (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Family Literacy Theory
Taylor developed the Family Literacy Theory in the 1980s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Family Literacy Theory takes the Emergent Theory and adds the importance of the family on literacy (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "...emphasizes the critical role that parents and parent involvement have on children's literacy development" (p. 103). -
Interactive Compensatory Model
The Interactive Compensatory Model was developed in the 1980s by Stanovich (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Stanovich aruged that information and memory was not linear, mearning it did not follow a simple path in one direction, from lower level processing to higher level processing (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Instead Stanovich believed that memory could be passed from higher level to lower level as higher level memory could aid with lower level memory using the top down method (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Phonological-Core Variable Difference Models
The Phonological-Core Variable Difference Model was developed in the 1980s by Stanovich (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Phonological-Core Variable Difference Model is a cognitive-processing perspective used to identify and treat reading disabilities like dyslexia (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Stanovich believes that dyslexia is caused by phonological deficits (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Third Space Theory
Lefebvre developed the Third Space Theory in the 1990s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The first space portion of the Third Space Theory contains and individual's knolwedges and discourses that are most personal like home and family (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The second space includes school, work and church enviornments (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The third space includes one's invisible, internal environment (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
1990s
There are four major theories of reading that were developed int he 1990s. -
Parallel Distributed Processing Model/Connectionism
Seidenberg and McClelland developed the Parallel Distributed Processing Model/Connectionism in the 1990s (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Seidenberg and McClelland's theory is the belief that cognitive information is stored as a series of connections and that those connections become faster with repeated pairings (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Parallel Distributed Processing Model focuses on the reading process with several processors (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Dual-Route Cascaded Model
The Dual-Route Cascaded Model was developed in the 1990s by Colheart and Rastle (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012) the Parallel Distributed Processing Model and the Dual-Route Cascaded Model are similar "in that both are computer-based models that encode text and output sound" (p. 171). According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), lexical route first identifies a word as familiar and then processes the word as a whole while the the non-lexical route is letter to sound. -
Double-Deficit Hypothesis
The Double-Deficit Hypothesis was developed in the 1990s by Wolf and Bowers (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Double-Deficit Hypothesis explains the cause of reading disabilities as connected to a phonological deficit (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The Double-Deficit Hypothesis combines with the Phonological Core Theory in its belief (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Neuroscientific Contributions
Neuroscientific Contributions was developed in the 2000s by Goswami (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). While Neuroscientific Contributions does have roots in cognition its roots begin in biology, studying how the brain learns and remembers (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Cognitive neuroscience is the connection of the fields to study the brain and understand cognitive functions such as reading (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
2000s
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), there is one major theory of the 2000s.
