In order to calibrate a vocabulary base which might be utilized in preparing materials for reading instruction at the elementary level, the 1000 most frequently used words in the preschooler's vocabulary provided the experimental data for several studies: (1) a series of free-recall experiments which yielded a scaling of common words according to availability, (2) a rating of the image-evoking capacity of the words by 34 undergraduates, and (3) a rating for associative strength by 55 undergraduates. Finally, 39 preschool S's were employed while establishing hierarchies of associations for 160 of the 1000 words. (Appendixes contain (a) 1000 words scaled as to recall, imagery, and association, and (b) hierarchies of associations to 146 common, regularly spelled words.) (Author/RD)