A SYSTEM FOR CLASSIFYING THOUGHT PROCESSES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLASSROOM VERBAL INTERACTION IS PRESENTED. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM IS NECESSARY TO THE STUDY OF THE VERBAL PERFORMANCE OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF THINKING THAT IS ELICITED AND EXPRESSED IN THE COURSE AND CONTEXT OF CLASSROOM OPERATION. VERBAL PERFORMANCES CONVEYED ON A TAPESCRIPT, WHICH IS A TAPE RECORDING SUPPLEMENTED BY AN OBSERVER'S DETAILED NOTES, CAN BE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THIS SYSTEM. THE FIVE PRIMARY SETS OR GROUPS OF CATEGORIES ARE COGNITIVE MEMORY, CONVERGENT THINKING, EVALUATIVE THINKING, DIVERGENT THINKING, AND THE ROUTINE CATEGORY WHICH INCLUDES NOT ONLY THE TYPICAL TEACHER AND STUDENT MANEUVERINGS THAT CONSTITUTE THE FAMILAR CLASSROOM SCENE BUT ALSO CERTAIN TYPES OF DISCUSSION BEHAVIORS. A TABLE OF CATEGORIES WITH SHORT DEFINITIONS IS GIVEN, WITH EXAMPLES OF EACH TYPE. UNDER "ROUTINE" ARE INCLUDED THE TERMS--MANAGEMENT, STRUCTURING, VERDICT, AGREEMENT, SELF-REFERENCE, MUDDLED, AND HUMOR. UNDER "COGNITIVE-MEMORY" ARE INCLUDED--RECAPITULATION, CLARIFICATION, AND FACTUAL. UNDER "CONVERGENT THINKING" ARE INCLUDED THE TERMS--TRANSLATION, EXPLANATION, ASSOCIATION, AND CONCLUSION. UNDER "EVALUATIVE THINKING" ARE THE TERMS UNSTRUCTURED, STRUCTURED, AND QUALIFIED. UNDER "DIVERGENT THINKING" ARE INCLUDED ELABORATION, DIVERGENT ASSOCIATION IMPLICATIONS, AND SYNTHESIS. PROCEDURES FOR MAKING TAPESCRIPTS, CLASSIFICATION DISTINCTIONS, AND AN EXAMPLE OF A TAPESCRIPT ARE INCLUDED.