The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in comprehension among elementary school children who listened to a narrative passage presented at different rates of expansion or compression. Subjects were drawn from three populations with respect to intelligence. The three levels of intelligence were low (IQs ranging from 74 to 98), average (90 to 110), and high (102 to 121). The subjects were randomly assigned to nine treatment groups containing six subjects each. These groups listened at rates of 78, 128, 178, 228, 278, 328, 378, and 428 words per minute (wpm). A comparison group was administered the tests covering passage content without having listened to the passages. The materials used in the study were the three Standardized Listening Passages and associated tests prepared by Clark and Woodcock (1967). Immediate and one-week retention data were gathered on each subject. The results indicated that listening rates of 228 to 328 wpm were more efficient for learning and retention than the normal rate of 178 wpm, subjects with lower IQs performed better at rates which were slower than the most efficient rates for higher IQ subjects, and performance curves displayed a secondary peak just prior to the final drop in performance at very high listening rates. (WR)