THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALTERNATE APPROACHES TOWARD INDIVIDUALIZATION OF FIXED-PACED PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION WAS ASSESSED. THIS REPRESENTED THE THIRD IN A SERIES OF THREE STUDIES CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PACING MODE AND BEHAVIOR. (REFER TO ACCESSION NUMBERS ED 003 199, ED 003 200, AND ED 003 202 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PROJECT.) PROGRAMED LESSONS IN SCIENCE WERE PRESENTED OVER TELEVISION TO EIGHTH-GRADE STUDENTS. A TOTAL OF 12 SEPARATE VERSIONS WERE COMPARED, INCLUDING 3 VERSIONS DIFFERING IN PROMPTING STRENGTH AND PRESENTED AT 4 DIFFERENT TEMPOS. COMPARISONS WERE MADE AMONG TREATMENTS FOR ERRORS, POST-TEST SCORES, AND RETENTION SCORES. WHILE ADDED PROMPTING DID REDUCE ERROR RATES, IT ALSO LED TO LOWER ACHIEVEMENT. ITS POTENTIAL VALUE IN OVERCOMING THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF FIXED PACING WAS DISCOUNTED. INTERACTIVE TRENDS WERE OBSERVED BETWEEN CHARACTERISTIC WORK RATES AND TEMPO VARIATIONS. MULTIPLE PROGRAM SOURCES WERE DISCUSSED AS MEANS FOR PROVIDING EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT GROUP INSTRUCTION. (JC)