The purpose of this paper is to present a developmental model of reading that encompasses changes across the lifespan. The author contends that until we adopt this lifelong perspective, we continue to run the risk of turning out undeveloped, unmotivated, and uncritical readers unable to fulfill their responsibilities within a democratic society.…

Notes undergraduate students read both a one-sided text on educational reform and a two-sided nonrefutational text on the V-chip; and that they completed topic-specific beliefs, knowledge, and interest measures and reacted to specific text characteristics. Finds that although both forms of texts affected readers, the effects varied by the type of…