Research generally indicates that imagery facilitates children's learning on basic memory tasks, such as paired-associate learning. The role of imagery in prose recall is less well defined, however. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the construction of mental images on eight year old's ability to recall progressively lengthening prose passages. Eighty-six third graders enrolled in suburban Minneapolis schools were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental subjects were given practice constructing mental images and were shown examples of useful images. Controls were exposed to the prose materials, but did not practice constructing mental images. Both groups read seventeen segments of a short story; children in the experimental group were directed to construct an image for each segment, while control subjects were instructed to "do whatever you can or have to" in order to remember the story. Results indicate that experimental subjects were able to answer significantly more short answer questions about the story than were control subjects. (Author/KS)