We strive to deliver the best value to our customers and ensure complete satisfaction for all our textbook rentals.
You can return your online books for any reason within our refund period – no questions asked.
Every order is available for express shipping, and return shipping is always free.
You'll be happy with the quality of your books (or we'll ship you another one on our dime).
You can extend your rental up to 14 days – at the same cheap daily rental rate.
If you decide to keep the book it will never cost more than the purchase price.
As always, you have access to over 5 million titles. Plus, you can choose from 5 rental periods, so you only pay for what you’ll use. And if you ever run into trouble, our top-notch U.S. based Customer Service team is ready to help by email, chat or phone.
Supplemental materials are not guaranteed for used textbooks or rentals (access codes, DVDs, workbooks).
Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning To Read
Understanding Reading revolutionized reading theory and research when it first appeared in 1971 and it has continued as a leader in the field through successive editions. Smith's aim in the fifth edition of this classic text continues as it was in the first: to shed light on fundamental aspects of the complex human act of reading -- linguistic,...
Understanding Reading revolutionized reading theory and research when it first appeared in 1971 and it has continued as a leader in the field through successive editions. Smith's aim in the fifth edition of this classic text continues as it was in the first: to shed light on fundamental aspects of the complex human act of reading -- linguistic, physiological, psychological, and social -- and on what is involved in learning to read. This edition critically examines current theories, instructional practices, and controversies, covering a wide range of disciplines but always remaining accessible to students and to classroom teachers. Because reading should not be regarded as a special kind of activity but rather one that involves far broader aspects of human thought and behavior, an understanding of reading cannot be achieved without consideration of the nature of language and of various operating characteristics of the human brain. Consequently, the first half of this book is devoted to such topics as comprehension, knowledge, language, vision, and memory. A major change in the present edition is that while continuing to accommodate recent developments in research, theory, and the author's own ideas, a new section is introduced at the end of each chapter to outline the more persistent and contentious issues that surround particular topics. Within cognitive science, two new and contradictory theories related to language learning -- modular theory and connectionism -- have become influential. Both are discussed together with a closer look at other metaphors currently employed in psychological and educational theorizing. This book also highlights the ideological clash between whole language and direct instruction, partly at the expense of linguist Noam Chomsky and behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, who figured prominently in earlier editions. No other text integrates such a wide range of topics relative to reading, and few other texts are as readable or as "user-friendly" for instructors, students, and practitioners.
Since launching the first textbook rental site in 2006, BookRenter has never wavered from our mission to make education more affordable for all students. Every day, we focus on delivering students the best prices, the most flexible options, and the best service on earth. On March 13, 2012 BookRenter.com, Inc. formally changed its name to Rafter, Inc. We are still the same company and the same people, only our corporate name has changed.