The relationship between visual and auditory performance and reading achievement came under scrutiny in this study. It was thought that both poor and average readers would perform better on auditory tasks than on visual ones but that this discrepancy would be considerably greater for the poor or retarded reader. Seventy-two children from grades 1, 3, 5, and 9 in lower-middle-income schools in central New Jersey were tested with pairs of digits presented on 16-mm. film with synchronous sound track. Their intelligence was held constand while reading ability varied over two levels, good and poor. Results showed that more auditory material was recalled than visual material. And although recall was not differentially affected by reading level, it was suggested that the task employed might have been too simple and, moreover, that any differences in performance as a function of reading level might be related more to the nature of the task and as such would be obtained with different materials. References are included. (Author/NH)