OBJECTIVE INTERESTS AND MOTIVATION MEASURES WERE STUDIED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A SUITABLE METHOD FOR PREDICTING SCHOOL PERFORMANCE. IT WAS FIRST NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE OF INTERESTS IN CHILDREN AND TO INCORPORATE THESE FACTORS INTO A TOTAL MEASUREMENT BATTERY. THE INTEREST MEASURES WERE THEN COMBINED WITH MEASURES OF ABILITY AND PERSONALITY AND ADMINISTERED TO URBAN AND RURAL SAMPLES OF SEVENTH- AND EIGHTH-GRADE CHILDREN, NUMBERING APPROXIMATELY 150 AND 120. AT THE SAME TIME, RECORDS OF THESE CHILDREN'S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE (INCLUDING SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT) WERE OBTAINED. ABILITY, PERSONALITY, AND INTEREST TEST SCORES WERE CORRELATED WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH ACHIEVEMENT-PERFORMANCE DATA. SOME SIGNIFICANT URBAN-RURAL, BOY-GIRL DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND. THE MAIN CONCLUSION, COMMON TO METHODS AND SAMPLES, WAS THAT ABILITIES, PERSONALITY TRAITS, AND MOTIVATIONAL TRAITS CONTRIBUTED ABOUT EQUALLY TO THE VARIANCE OF THE SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT CRITERION, AND MUTUALLY OVERLAP IN VARIANCE TO ONLY ABOUT ONE-THIRD. RECOMMENDATIONS WERE OUTLINED FOR APPLYING THE PREDICTIVE ACHIEVEMENT FACTORS DEVELOPED BY THIS STUDY TO ACTION MODES PRODUCING CERTAIN PERSONALITY AND MOTIVATIONAL CORRELATIONS. (JH)