THE REINFORCING EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONTINGENCIES, IN WHICH A VERBAL LEARNING TASK WAS PRESENTED, WERE TESTED. THE LEARNING TASK INVOLVED A SIMULATION OF THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE PUPIL APPROACHES BEGINNING READING THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF A BASIC SIGHT VOCABULARY. THE CRITERION FOR MEASURING DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT WAS ESTABLISHED AS THE NUMBER OF VISUAL SYMBOLS AND SPOKEN WORDS CORRECTLY ASSOCIATED ON A RECALL AND RECOGNITION TEST ADMINISTERED AT THE END OF EACH LEARNING SESSION. FIVE DIFFERENT CONTINGENCIES WERE ESTABLISHED AND ADMINISTERED TO APPROXIMATELY 100 SUBJECTS. THE FINDING OF GREATEST RELEVANCE TO RESEARCH ON DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT WAS THE ABSENCE OF STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES ACROSS THE REINFORCEMENT CONTINGENCIES. (GD)