What is Reader Response theory?

Reader Response is basically an idea where the meaning happens while reading... between the text and the reader. Other people/types of literary criticism believe that the true meaning is in the author's mind, and is just translated to the text... but reader response says there is a special meaning for each reader, based on what they read, and their past experiences. See the wikipedia article for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader-response_criticism