Cloze procedure, a testing method which systematically deletes words in written prose and then measures the accuracy of the information is reviewed from a historical viewpoint. Redundancy is placed in a verbal context and can be noted on three separate levels of language: (1) surface syntactic structure; (2) deep syntactic structure; and (3) semantic structure. Each level is said to contribute to an individual's ability to perform successfully with cloze materials. Cloze technique has been in use in psychology since 1897 when Hermann Ebbinghaus used it to explore the properties of memory. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test used closure principles, as did tests designed by Thorndike and Miller and Selfridge. Wilson Taylor presented an introduction to cloze technique in 1953, and Ellington (1981) developed a more eclectic approach to cloze procedures. Discrepancies in predicting the significance of the results of cloze tests have proven to be troublesome. The cloze technique may not be suitable for evaluating higher-order language skills. A correlation between cloze scores and multiple-choice scores has been established by Bormuth and factor validity for cloze tests as measures of comprehension ability have been tested. Other uses for cloze procedures include evaluating student writing and checking for plagarism. (LMO)