What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta

What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta: "Here are two facts that probably won't surprise you: Reading makes you smarter, and the more reading you do, the better.

Why this is so and how the magic happens, though, is quite interesting.

In a paper called What Reading Does for the Mind, Anne E. Cunningham, associate professor of cognition and development at the University of California, Berkeley, makes the case that reading:

* increases vocabulary more than talking or direct teaching;

* substantially boosts general knowledge while decreasing the likelihood that misinformation will be absorbed; and

* helps keep our memory and reasoning abilities intact as we age."