Researchers in text comprehension have applied an information-processing analogy to understanding how
people think, learn, and remember what they read.
I - When a person reads, two aspects of this “human information processing system” continuously
interact.
II - When the reader focuses primarily on what he or she already knows, this is called a conceptdriven or “top-down” mode.
III - On the other hand, when the reader relies primarily on textual features and information to
comprehend, this is called a data-driven or “bottom-up” mode.
IV - In other words, the reader is constantly noticing parts of the text and comparing that sample
with what he or she did not know.
(Mikulecky, Beatrice S., Teaching Reading in a Second Language)