"I think it's a safe way of confronting the parts of ourselves that we don't often like and that we need to sit with in order to grow," she says.
asserted
she → think → order
Dr Saward is a Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman, academic and publishing all-rounder, who writes across multiple genres including Aboriginal romance novels.
asserted
who → write → novels
She recognises the power of fiction to unpack biases.
asserted
She → recognise → biases
"We all have these biases — I have things that I have to unpack that make me really, really uncomfortable — it's just because of society and how you're raised, your standpoint, and all those things that make you, you.
asserted
that → have → society
"Fiction is such a powerful way of privately confronting you with those things."
asserted
Fiction → confront → things
Studies show reading can increase empathy as we experience new perspectives and is linked with better brain health, cognition and mental wellbeing.
asserted
we → show → health
It is associated with a lower risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline in adults, and better attention, memory, executive function, academic achievement and mental health in children and adolescents.
asserted
It → associate → children
So how does reading work in the brain?
asserted
reading → work → brain
Reading is an invented skill, according to Lili Yu, senior lecturer of psychological sciences at Macquarie University who studies how people read.
uncertain
people → invent → University
Dr Yu says reading uses parts of the brain, such as our attention and memory systems, we used for other purposes prior to the invention of the skill.
"Because reading is kind of a recent invention, that essentially means the processes involved in reading rely on lots of the cognitive systems we have already," she says.
asserted
she → say → systems
Put simply, when we encounter written text, the first thing our brain observes is the shape, or the "orthographic information", of the word.
asserted
brain → Put → word
We attach that visual information to what the word sounds like, known as the "phonological information".
asserted
word → attach → information
Then we take those two different forms of information and mentally attach it to the meaning of the word.
asserted
we → take → word
This is called lexical processing, Dr Yu explains.
asserted
Yu → call → ?
Although this is the most common way to read, some people do this process slightly differently.
asserted
people → read → process
"Sometimes people see the form and go straight to the meaning, a tendency more commonly seen in logographic scripts like Chinese," she says.
asserted
she → see → Chinese
Reading sentences is more complicated, requiring multiple cognitive systems to work together, including our memory, language and visual processing systems.
asserted
Reading → read → systems
Dr Lili Yu says reading can strengthen our memory.
asserted
reading → say → memory
It also increases our vocabulary and allows us to better understand nuances between words, she tells All In The Mind.
asserted
she → increase → Mind
"The way we organise the words in our head becomes more sophisticated, and we know more of the nuances between different words.
asserted
we → organise → words
"
Reading narrative fiction comes with its own unique benefits, Raymond Mar, a professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, adds.
asserted
Mar → read → Toronto
"Fiction is a much stronger predictor of verbal abilities than non-fiction," he says.
"
asserted
he → say → fiction
We know that language abilities are a great predictor of things like educational achievement and then later on, career achievement and success.
asserted
abilities → know → achievement
"So, given that we all recognise how important our verbal abilities are, I think it's really interesting that fiction is the one that seems to have the stronger influence.
asserted
that → give → influence
Despite the benefits of reading for developing language, Australians are reading less than ever before and literacy levels in many OECD countries are declining or stagnating.
asserted
levels → develop → countries
Beyond developing literacy, reading introduces us to different perspectives.
asserted
reading → develop → perspectives
The relationship between reading and empathy
Professor Mar says there are two ways stories help us become better at navigating the world we live in.
"
asserted
we → say → world
We know that reading fiction can help to hone the same sort of mental processes that we use to understand other people, including empathy and perspective-taking.
asserted
we → know → empathy
This effect has been observed in brain studies.
asserted
effect → observe → studies
"What we find is parts of the brain that become active while we're reading narrative fiction are the same parts of the brain that are activated when we're trying to understand other people.
asserted
we → find → people
"
As reading improves empathy, increasing empathy may improve our reading skills.
uncertain
empathy → improve → skills
"The better our empathy, the better our perspective-taking, the easier it is for us to understand stories," Professor Mar says.
asserted
Mar → understand → stories
Stories also may contain social knowledge about the world we can learn from.
uncertain
we → contain → world
For example, in one study, adolescents talk about how books helped them reflect on their emotions and gain greater insight into some of the challenging parts of their life.
asserted
them → talk → life
And for older adults, reading can foster social connection, such as through book clubs.
"Getting together to discuss different perspectives on a novel that everyone's read is a great way to spend time and a great way to bond with others."
The benefits of reading aren't limited to physical books, Professor Mar says.
asserted
Mar → foster → books
Listening to audiobooks can also boost empathy.
asserted
Listening → listen → empathy
"The content matters so much more than the modality so I don't think people should feel guilty at all for listening to audiobooks.
asserted
people → matter → audiobooks
"As long as what we have is a representation of other people, their experiences, their interior life, we would see kind of similar results, similar benefits."
asserted
we → see → results
Reading to expand your world view
Dr Saward remembers a book that was particularly impactful for her: Claire G Coleman's Terra Nullius.
asserted
that → read → her
"It just was a moment where you go, 'Wow, even me, with my brain, I've still got things to unlearn and learn,' and that's kind of exciting.
"
asserted
that → go → things
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia