Territorial decentration is a question of major significance to geographic educators. This paper reports the findings of a research project designed to determine the territorial decentration of an American sample of children. The primary purpose of the research was to determine if Piaget's territorial decentration stages are appropriate for American children. The study was designed to facilitate the collection of data comparable to studies conducted by Piaget in Switzerland and Jahoda in Scotland. An interview-examination with standardized administration procedures was developed and tasks from the studies of Piaget and Jahoda were pilot tested to determine their suitability. A sample of 204 children between the ages of six and thirteen were randomly selected from the state of Georgia. The variance between observed and theoretically expected distributions, and the effects of age, socioeconomic status, and instruction on the development of decentration concepts, are discussed. (FDI)