Program objectives were to develop children's abilities to deal with everyday and school related problems, and to make them more inner-directed by (1) developing a positive self-image, (2) increasing sensory and perceptual acuity, (3) improving language skills, and (4) improving problem-solving and concept formation abilities. Forty-five environmentally deprived 3- and 4-year-old children attended the New Nursery School; 30 were either Spanish- or Mexican-American. The school was organized as an autotelic responsive environment. Each child explored activities freely, proceeding at his own rate to discover relationships. The learner was informed about the consequences of his actions by self-correcting toys, machines, other children, or the teacher. Pre- and posttests were administered to measure intelligence (PPVT and Stanford-Binet), but no firm conclusions about I.Q. were drawn. Other tests given were the Pre-School Inventory, Cincinnati Autonomy Test Battery (six tests), an articulation test, two tests on concept formation, and a test of color identification. On the whole, an experimental group of middle class children scored somewhat higher on the tests than the deprived children. Older children also had higher scores than younger children, indicating a pattern of orderly increase with age and nursery school experience. (DR)