Research on three types of visual symbols is discussed in terms of the implications of the findings for instructional developers. The research in question focused on which of three symbol stimuli--concept-related graphic, arbitrary graphic, or verbal label--would most rapidly bring a psychomotor response under control and would maintain control over time. Because of its inherent meaningfulness, the concept-related graphic was predicted to excel on both learning and retention measures. Because of a lack of previous research, there was no prediction between the arbitrary graphic and verbal label on either measure. Thirty-one subjects from a random sample of university students participated in the learning phase, and 26 of them returned for the retention test. Five psychomotor actions were used in the study with each action represented by a concept-related graphic, an arbitrary graphic, and a verbal label, making a total of 15 symbol stimuli. As predicted, the concept-related graphic excelled among the three symbol types on both the learning and retention measures. (Author/LLS)