THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN "READING DECISIONS" AND EACH OF THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES WAS INVESTIGATED--(1) READING ACHIEVEMENT NOT RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE, (2) INDEPENDENT MEASURES OF ORIGINALITY AND OPINION FORMATION, AND (3) THE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF INDEPENDENCE, INDIVIDUALISM, AND SELF-ESTEEM. THE TERM "READING DECISIONS" WAS USED TO DENOTE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT RECOGNITIONS OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DIVERGENT PLOT OUTCOMES AT THE BEGINNING AND AT THE MIDPOINT OF A STORY. IN THIS STUDY, MEASURED "RECOGNITIONS OF POSSIBILITIES" WERE OBTAINED FROM A SAMPLE OF HIGH-ABILITY FIFTH-GRADE STUDENTS, BEFORE AND DURING THEIR READING OF A SHORT STORY. NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE STUDENTS'"READING DECISIONS" AND THE VARIABLES OF ORIGINALITY, OPINION FORMATION, OR PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS. SOME SIGNIFICANT INTERACTIONS, HOWEVER, WERE FOUND BETWEEN CERTAIN ASPECTS OF "READING DECISIONS" AND READING ACHIEVEMENT CORRECTED FOR IQ. THIS FINDING WAS REPLICATED USING A LARGER SAMPLE POPULATION. IN A MAJOR BYPRODUCT OF THIS STUDY, THE INVESTIGATORS WERE ABLE TO RELATE SEVERAL MEASURES OF SELF-CONCEPT TO READING ACHIEVEMENT RELATIVE TO ARITHMETIC. THOSE STUDENTS WITH HIGH READING ACHIEVEMENT SCORES (RELATIVE TO READING ACHIEVEMENT CORRECTED FOR ARITHMETIC) SHOWED BETTER SOCIAL ORIENTATIONS AND APPEARED TO DISCRIMINATE THEMSELVES AS BEING BOTH DIFFERENT AND COMPLEX. GIRLS WITH HIGH READING ACHIEVEMENT SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN SELF-ESTEEM THAN WERE BOYS WITH HIGH READING ACHIEVEMENT SCORES. (JH)