this volume is the first of a two-part series dealing with the theoretical, definitional, methodological, and developmental issues involved in investigating the role of orthography in reading and writing. although research on orthography has a long history in experimental psychology and neuropsychology, it was relatively neglected during the past decade when researchers turned their attention to phonological processes in literacy. however, interest in orthography is reemerging as the research reported in this series demonstrates. taken together, the two volumes report evidence for shared and independent genetic pathways, shared and independent electrophysiological brain activity, and shared and independent behavioral indices of orthographic and phonological processes and emphasize the similarities and differences of orthographies across languages. volume i proposes a theoretical framework based on the multiple dimensions of orthographic knowledge for guiding future research. for basic and applied researchers and graduate students in cognitive and developmental psychology, neuropsychology, linguistics, and education.