Four problems in children's paired-associate memory were addressed: (1) reappraisal of the presumed developmental trend in presentation mode effect during grade-school years, (2) identification of the locus of this developmental effect, (3) evaluation of the influence of combined presentation (verbal plus pictorial) relative to pictorial presentation on the storage and retrieval of pairs, and (4) evaluation of the influence of combined presentation relative to verbal presentation. Five hundred seventy-six children (144 each from kindergarten and grades 2, 4 and 6) memorized 32 pairs of common nouns by the study-test recognition procedure. Results indicated an increasing superiority of pictorial over verbal presentations during the grade-school years. This Grade x Presentation Mode interaction was observed in the storage phase of task performance but not in the retrieval phase. Combined presentation did not influence either the storage or retrieval of pairs relative to pictorial presentation but did enhance the storage of pairs relative to verbal presentation. A developmental trend in combined presentation relative to verbal presentation was observed in the retrieval of pairs such that retrieval was facilitated by combined presentation with older children, while presentation mode did not affect retrieval for younger children. Results are discussed in terms of dual coding and elaboration theories of paired-associate memory. (Author/JB)