AN EXTENSIVE REVIEW OF THE RELEVANT LITERATURE SINCE 1900 SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT, IN SOME WAY, THERE IS AN INTERACTION BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE, AGE, SOCIAL GROUP, AND THE EFFECTS OF PRAISE AND BLAME ON SCHOOL CHILDREN. INCONSISTENCIES IN EXPERIMENTAL FACTORS HAVE PRECLUDED ANY DEFINITIVE STATEMENTS REGARDING THE PROBLEM. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF PRAISE AND BLAME ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A DISCRIMINATION TASK UNDER THE VARIBLES OF GRADE, INTELLIGENCE, SEX, SOCIAL CLASS, SCHOOL, AND EXAMINER WAS MADE. SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY SUBJECTS WERE DRAWN FROM A LARGE SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN AREA AND WERE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS BASED UPON THREE REWARD CONDITIONS, FOUR GRADE LEVELS, THREE LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE, AND TWO RACES. ALTHOUGH ALL OF THE SUBJECTS COULD SOLVE THE TASK USED IN THIS STUDY, THE SPEED WITH WHICH IT WAS SOLVED WAS HIGHLY VARIABLE. THE ANALYSIS OF THIS VARIANCE WAS THE MAJOR STATISTIC OF THE STUDY. INSTRUMENTS USED WERE THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL MATURITY TO ESTABLISH INTELLIGENCE LEVEL, A WOLLENSAK TYPE RECORDER TO MONITOR ALL TESTS, AN ESTERLINE ANGUS 20-PEN RECORDER TO RECORD ALL SUBJECT AND EXAMINER RESPONSES, AND A FOUR-KEY DISCRIMINATION BOX DESIGNED FOR THE STUDY. THE 32 ODDITY-PROBLEM STIMULUS CARDS PRESENTED FOUR PATTERNS, ONE OF WHICH WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS. THE PROBLEM WAS TO IDENTIFY THE ODD PATTERN AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. BETWEEN TRIALS, SOME SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN BLAME, WHILE SOME WHERE GIVEN PRAISE AND WERE TOLD TO DO BETTER. THE CONTROLS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS OF A BIOGRAPHICAL NATURE. ALL SUBJECTS GIVEN PRAISE RESPONDED WITH DECREASED MEAN REACTION TIME ON TRIAL TWO. OUT OF ALL THE ANALYSES OF VARIANCE DONE, THE MOST STRIKING FINDING WAS THE CONSISTENCY OF THE EFFECTS OF BLAME AND PRAISE, IRRESPECTIVE OF SOME RATHER BASIC DIFFERENCES IN SUBJECT VARIABLES. THE CONCLUSION WAS THAT, IN SITUATIONS INVOLVING PERCEPTUAL MOTOR SKILLS, WITH SPEED AS THE CRITERION MEASURE, REPROOF SHOULD HAVE A DEBILITATING EFFECT UPON PERFORMANCE WHILE PRAISE SHOULD RESULT IN A SOMEWHAT HIGHER INCREASE IN PERFORMANCE THAN THAT RESULTING FROM PRACTICE ALONE.