THE MAJOR PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS A TRIAL AND EVALUATION OF AN EXPERIMENTAL CURRICULUM UNIT DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A STRUCTURAL PROGRAM IN SOCIAL PERCEPTION AND BEHAVIOR FOR EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS. THE PROGRAM WAS DEVISED IN THE FORM OF SEQUENTIAL SIMULATION OR ILLUSTRATIONS LEADING TO SKILLS IN PERCEIVING WHICH CUES ARE RELEVANT, INFERRING FROM THESE WHAT IS OCCURRING, AND DETERMINING WHAT SOCIAL RESPONSES WOULD BE MOST APPROPRIATE. THE 56 SUBJECTS WERE SELECTED FROM YOUNG ADOLESCENTS (AGED 13 TO 16) ENROLLED IN SIX SPECIAL CLASSES FROM THREE SCHOOLS AND WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED EITHER TO AN EXPERIMENTAL OR TO A PLACEBO GROUP. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP'S TREATMENT CONSISTED OF 48 1-HOUR LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL CURRICULUM (PERCEPTUAL TRAINING FOR COMMUNITY LIVING--A PREVOCATIONAL UNIT FOR RETARDED YOUTHS, THE 1965 REVISION BY EDMONDSON, LEACH, AND LELAND). THE CONTROL GROUP FOLLOWED A CONVENTIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM WITH SELECTED ELEMENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT MANIPULATED. PRETEST AND POSTTEST MEASURES WERE TAKEN ON THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS--VINELAND SOCIAL MATURITY SCALE, FUDELL TEST OF OCCUPATIONAL READINESS, TEST OF SOCIAL INFERENCE, BOWN SELF-REPORT INVENTORY, AND BEHAVIOR RATING SCALE. RESULTS WERE ALSO OBTAINED ON TEACHER AND PUPIL EVALUATIONS, AND WEEKLY UNIT TESTS. THE EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLES OF CURRICULA, SCHOOLS, AND TIME WERE ANALYZED IN TERMS OF THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES (MEASURES OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR). ANALYSIS INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENTAL AND THE PLACEBO GROUPS FOLLOWING THE TREATMENT PERIOD. IT WAS FOUND, HOWEVER, THAT FEMALE PUPILS PERFORMED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER (BEYOND .025 LEVEL) THAN MALE PUPILS ON FOUR OF THE SEVEN MEASURES. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACHIEVEMENT ON WEEKLY UNIT TESTS AND SCORES ON TWO POSTTEST MEASURES WAS SIGNIFICANT BEYOND THE .05 LEVEL. TEACHER AND PUPIL EVALUATIONS INDICATED GENERAL APPROVAL. ONE FIGURE AND 24 TABLES PROVIDE DATA, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS 98 ITEMS. APPENDIXES INCLUDE MATERIAL ON THE TESTS AND RATING FORMS, LESSON PLANS AND GUIDELINES, TEACHER PERSONNEL DATA, IDENIFYING DATA AND SCORES ON ALL SUBJECTS, TEACHER EVALUATION OF THE SOCIAL PERCEPTUAL TRAINING UNIT, AND ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND COVARIANCE SUMMARY TABLES. (TM)