Rastle did her PhD with Professor Max Coltheart at Macquarie University, where she contributed to the development of the DRC model of reading,[1][2] a computational theory of how adults read aloud single words.
Subsequently, her work has focused on the statistical regularities present in written language,[3] and on how learners acquire knowledge of these through instruction[4][5] and experience.
[6] She is a fellow of the Academia Europaea, Academy of Social Sciences, and the British Psychological Society.
Rastle is President of the Experimental Psychology Society and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Memory and Language.
Rastle’s research has influenced policy and practice globally in the area of reading instruction.