This study explored the relationship between fear of automation and teachers' attitudes toward instructional media. Ten terms describing instructional devices were presented under three experimental conditions: replacement, adjunct, and neutral. Five of the devices were considered traditional while the remainder were associated with instructional technology. The subjects, 112 graduate students in education who were teachers or applying for teaching posts, rated each term using six bipolar scales. Results strongly confirmed the hypothesis that fear of automation is an important variable in modifying teachers' attitudes toward terms describing instructional media. Terms directly denoting technology (teaching machine, automated instruction, computer based instruction, computer managed instruction, educational technology) evoked more negative attitudes than the more traditional terms (textbook, flash card, workbook, film strip, exercise book), regardless of instructional set. The group receiving replacement instructions had a less positive attitude toward the terms than either of the other two groups. In the replacement group, moreover, even the more traditional terms, which received very positive responses in general, were viewed much more negatively once they were associated with a phrase suggesting that such devices might be used as a replacement for the teacher. It was concluded that educators and instructional technologists should be circumspect in the selection of terms describing new instructional equipment, and that attention should be paid to teachers' attitudes in media workshops and related activities. Failure to deal with these attitudes may have the effect of teachers' attitudes biasing student performance on new instructional equipment in a negative direction. (Author/MJB)