In an effort to create a multilevel, interactive, and hypothesis-based model of the reading comprehension process that bridges interdisciplinary gaps in the theory of learning, this report focuses on descriptions of cognitive processes developed in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, sociolinguistics, linguistics, and reading education. The report first discusses the need to combine the hierarchical, bottom-up, sequential learning framework with the heterarchical, top-down, nonlinear creative model for reading, and to apply reality testing to both. It then describes how chunks of knowledge are connected and bracketed for meaning through such "chaining" activities as word recognition, syntactic processing, and semantic processing. After suggesting the contextual component rendered by the reader in comprehension, it indicates parallels between reading comprehension and research: in both, configurations of schemata are developed by identifying, recognizing, accessing, and organizing information. Finally, the report discusses the bracketing process in greater detail, suggesting reasons why it may fail to occur, how it aids recall, and what makes it a creative act. Definitions of terms used are appended. (MM)