This study investigated the effectiveness for fourth grade students of an inductive, self-correcting approach to the discrimination of factual and inferential statements as one aspect of critical reading and thinking. Ninety-seven fourth graders comprised the sample, and an intelligence test was administered to select students with I.Q. scores of 100 or above. The experimental group was given short-term inductive instruction by the investigator in differentiating between factual and inferential statements. The control group followed the regular school program. In addition to the first posttest administered one week after the instruction, a second posttest was administered one month after the first. From the results it was concluded that short-term instruction in distinguishing between factual and inferential statements will improve students' skills in this area of critical reading. It was also concluded that the improvement in distinguishing between factual and inferential statements was not transitory. (Author/TS)