Literacy and Cognition (by Ronaldo Rodríguez)

The capacity to decode and encode symbols which is usually referred to as literacy has been object of analysis and study beginning with the Greek civilization. Among the principal arguments raised since their time, the “Great Divide” theory, which claims that literacy causes dramatic changes in individuals’ cognitive development, seems to be not only one of the strongest contentions but also the most widely accepted among scholars.

In 1963, “The Consequences of Literacy” by Goody and Watts first appeared arguing for the Great Divide theory. They considered that the “Great Divide” or “Great Leap” was the result of the adoption of the alphabet principle by the Greeks and the massive expansion of literacy among its citizenry. As regards its impact, Goody, Watts believed that learning to read and write alters the cognitive thought processes of the individual; literacy, said they, modifies the way in which the mind works. Ong went further to say that literacy “transforms human consciousness.” Hence, because it improves individuals’ capacity to reflect -and access to other thinkers’ reflections- literacy is believed to have led to the development of abstract, logical and scientific thinking in the western culture.

Opposition to the “Great Divide” theory, however, has emerged in modern times. Olson (1996), for instance, considered that the analysis of literacy and cognition was unable to specified how exactly one influences the other. The “Great Leap” theory has also been said to be ethnocentric (Heath, 1983; Scribner and Cole, 1981) for it does not seem to account for the development of societies out of the western world.