THE POSSIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A NUMBER OF PAPER AND PENCIL TEST INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES WAS EXPLORED FOR YIELDING RELIABLE MEASURES OF CURIOSITY AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. INVESTIGATIONS WERE CONDUCTED IN APPROXIMATELY 40 FIFTH-GRADE CLASSROOMS AND CARRIED OUT IN 2 PHASES--A PREPARATION PHASE AND A TESTING PHASE. IT WAS FIRST NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY GROUPS OF CHILDREN POSSESSING DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF CURIOSITY, AND TO DO THIS, CURIOSITY ITSELF, AS IT PERTAINED TO SCHOOL CHILDREN, HAD TO BE DEFINED. A MAJOR STUDY TESTED A FINAL BATTERY OF 11 ITEMS DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS--(1) PICTURE-AND-STORY-SATISFACTION, (2) PREFERRED-BEHAVIOR, (3) HIDDEN-PICTURE, (4) BREADTH-OF-INFORMATION, (5) MEMORY-FOR INCOMPLETE-STORY, (6) PREFERENCE-FOR-THE-UNBALANCED-AND/OR-UNFAMILIAR, (7) WHICH-SAYING-DO-YOU-BELIEVE, (8) RIDDLE-PATH-PUZZLE, (9) CODE-TEST, (10) FOOLISH-SAYINGS-TEST, AND (11) MAZE-TEST. THESE ITEMS WERE THEN TESTED FOR RELIABILITY IN MEASURING CURIOSITY. NO SINGLE ITEM OR ANY COMBINATION THEREOF WAS SUCCESSFUL IN IDENTIFYING WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF ACCURACY CURIOSITY IN ANY GIVEN CHILD. WITH RESPECT TO THE SELECTION OF GROUPS OF CHILDREN WITH HIGH CURIOSITY, HOWEVER, THE TESTS WERE MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHICH PROVIDED DISTURBANCES AND NOVELTY FACTORS AND WHICH MEASURED BREADTH-OF-KNOWLEDGE AND PERSISTENCE. PERHAPS THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTION OF THIS PROJECT WAS THAT IT PROVIDED DATA FOR STIMULATING A NUMBER OF BROADER STUDIES IN THIS FIELD. THESE POTENTIAL PROGRAMS WERE OUTLINED IN THE REPORT. (JH)