Patterns of cautiousness in a prose learning task were examined in three age groups of adults representing three levels of educational experience. Types of instruction, order of material presentation, sex, and educational experience level were varied for all groups of the 90 adults participating in the study. The main findings were as follows: (1) there is no reason to assume that cautiousness adversely affects prose learning skills as one progresses through life; (2) levels of cautiousness are highly dependent upon the constraints established by the situation; (3) prior knowledge has the possiblity of making an adult learner more cautious, particularly if there is a similarity between past and present knowledge pools; and (4) middle-aged adults, whether they have continued their education or not, are as confident in approaching a difficult multiple choice prose learning task as are younger, scholastically experienced adults. (Author/RL)