Heart rate change was used as the index of the orienting response (OR) of 102 kindergarten children. Heart rate change was measured by recording heart rate upon the presentation of tones. 15 similar tones followed by a different, 16th tone, were used. From this data the children were divided into high, medium, or low orientors. Following the "OR" testing session, 96 subjects received two pictorial analogues of verbal discrimination tasks. Subsequently, 65 subjects received a paired-associate (P-A) task. Learning on these tasks, when related to "OR" classification, showed that low "OR" males and medium "OR" females performed best, while medium "OR" males and low "OR" females performed worst. This finding was significant for the P-A task, indicating a relationship between "OR" classification and learning performance on this particular P-A task. It is difficult to explain the fact that performance was reversed between the sexes. (WD)