Children in grades 1–3 (ages 6–9) were asked to retell and explain a series of riddles. The scoring system was developed to differentiate levels of competence. Ability to recall riddles was not found to be predictive of ability to explain them. Three cognitive factors seemed to determine level of riddle competence. Level of competence was NOT clearly related to age. Analysis of riddles yields descriptive attributes that distinguish easy from difficult riddles. Implications concern the relationship of riddle competence to reading ability and metalinguistic facility.

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Relate actual messages to specijc outcomes rather than to assumptions about possible consequences.Psychologists are generally somewhat slower than parents to recognize a new factor in the ecology of early childhood, but they, along with educators, are finally beginning to share seriously in the concern over the impact of television on children. Confronted with awesome statistics (e.g., by the time they are five, children are likely to have spent more time watching television than they will spend in classrooms during the entire four years at college) (5), they are now

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