The social, behavioral, and physiological effects of episodic crowding on children and elderly adults are reported in this paper. Children ranging in ages from 9 to 16 and elderly adults ranging in ages from 60 to 90 were grouped by age into small and large rooms. Each group sat silently for 30 minutes in the rooms while skin conductance equipment measured their level of stress. The results indicated that crowded children had greater increases in stress than did their uncrowded peers. Both boys and girls reported great discomfort from the physical proximity of others in the crowded room and expressed greater feelings of annoyance following crowding. In contrast, elderly adults in the crowded room did not indicate feeling confined but regarded their room as cozier than did the uncrowded subjects. These subjects felt less aggressive, less afraid, less scrutinized, and friendlier in the crowded room. In addition, the adults in the crowded room characterized members of their group in a more positive light than did those in the uncrowded room. The implications of these findings on housing for the elderly are mentioned. (Author/DE)