This study investigated the effects of reading stories depicting older-adult characters on the attitudes of fourth-graders toward older adults. Attitudes were measured by means of a semantic-differential attitude scale constructed for this purpose. One hundred five students from five fourth-grade classes were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The attitude scale was administered to all groups as a pretest. The first experimental group was exposed to five stories (reading silently while hearing the stories on tape) with positive, active older-adult characters. The stories were discussed with emphasis on the active-versus-passive roles of the older adult characters. The second group had the same exposure to the stories without any discussion following. The control group had no contact with the stories at all. Comparison of posttest scores and pretest scores indicated that the presentation of stories with older-adult characters, designed to influence attitudes, was not successful in effecting any significant change in fourth-graders' attitudes toward the older adult. The children's attitudes toward older adults appeared neutral or positive rather than negative. (Author/MKM)