A three-way design was used to assess the effect of imagery instructions in noun-pair learning. The three principal factors were instructions (imagery versus rehearsal versus control), presentation mode (words versus pictures), and grade (1, 3, 6, and 11). Sixty subjects were drawn from each grade and randomly assigned to the six conditions. Analysis revealed significant main effects for grades and presentation mode. Older subject learned significantly better than younger, and picture presentation resulted in significantly better results than word presentation. No interaction between grade and mode was noted. In the word mode, imagery instructions were effective only in the sixth- and eleventh-grade samples, whereas in the picture mode they facilitated performance in the third-grade samples as well. Tables and references are included. (Author/MS)