Preface. Introduction. Part 1: Global Issues. Part 2: Text Structure. Part 3: Language, Knowledge of the World, and Inference. Part 4: Effects of Prior Language Experiences. Part 5: Comprehension Strategies, Facilitators, and Instruction. Author Index.

Research in cognitive psychology, linguistics, and AI - the three disciplines that have the most direct application to an understanding of the mental processes in reading - is presented in this work, first published in 1980, that attempts to provide a systematic and scientific basis for understanding and building a theory of reading comprehension.