THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL (SUBCULTURAL) FACTORS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES OF MEXICAN-AMERICANS WAS STUDIED. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 80 FIRST-GRADERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. ASSIGNMENTS WERE MADE FOR COMPARISON OF THE SUBJECTS INTO EITHER A HIGH POTENTIAL GROUP OR A LOW POTENTIAL GROUP. ASSIGNMENTS WERE DETERMINED BY COMPOSITE SCORES OBTAINED ON THE VAN ALSTYNE PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST AND THE GOODENOUGH-HARRIS DRAWING TEST. INTERVIEWS WERE THEN CONDUCTED WITH THE MOTHERS OF THE SUBJECTS AND TRANSCRIBED. RATING SCALES WERE USED TO MEASURE 33 CHARACTERISTICS, RELATING TO A SET OF NINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS VARIABLES. AN INDEX OF STATUS CHARACTERISTICS WAS COMPUTED FOR EACH FAMILY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RATINGS OF FAMILY LIFE WERE OBTAINED. THE CHILDREN IN THE HIGH POTENTIAL GROUP WERE FOUND TO COME FROM BACKGROUNDS THAT OFFERED A GREATER VARIETY OF STIMULATING EXPERIENCES THAN WERE AVAILABLE TO MOST CHILDREN IN THE LOW POTENTIAL GROUP. IN ADDITION, HIGH POTENTIAL CHILDREN SCORED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ON VOCABULARY TESTS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH. FURTHER RESEARCH WAS SUGGESTED TO BE BASED ON OBSERVATION RATHER THAN INTERVIEW REPORTS AND TO FOCUS IN GREATER DEPTH ON A NARROWER RANGE OF VARIABLES IN A STUDY OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. (RS)