AT THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY REGIONAL CAMPUS AT FORT WAYNE, 171 FRESHMAN STUDIED A UNIT ON "STIMULUS AND RESPONSE" IN A MODIFIED FORM OF THE PROGRAMING STYLE CALLED "CONVERSATIONAL CHAINING," IN WHICH THE ONLY RESPONSE CONFIRMATION IS PROVIDED WITHIN THE NEXT FRAME IN THE PROGRAM. THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC EMPHASIS SUCH AS CAPITALIZATION, BUT ALWAYS AN INDIRECT RESPONSE CONFIRMATION. OF THESE SUBJECTS, 102 COMPLETED THE LESSONS IN PROGRAMED FORM, AND 69 IN NARRATIVE FORM. THE 102 STUDENTS AVERAGED 31.1 CORRECT ANSWERS, THE 69 AVERAGED 27.2. BY MATCHING ACCORDING TO SAT SCORES, 30 PAIRS OF STUDENTS WERE FOUND DIFFERING IN MEAN SAT BY LESS THAN ONE POINT. FOR THOSE WHO STUDIED THE PROGRAMED FORM, THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SAT AND TEST SCORE WAS .24, AND IT WAS .82 FOR THE OTHERS. THE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAMED FORM WAS ESPECIALLY NOTABLE FOR THOSE WITH SAT VERBAL SCORES UNDER 500. EVEN THESE CLEAR-CUT RESULTS, HOWEVER, DO NOT CONFIRM THAT "LEARNING IS SUPERIOR FOR STUDENTS WITH LESS ABILITY OR POORER BACKGROUND WHEN CONSTRUCTED RESPONSES ARE REQUIRED" OR THAT "CONVERSATIONAL PROGRAMING IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER FORMS..." THE AUTHOR REMAINS CONCERNED WITH VALIDATED INSTRUCTION, RATHER THAN WITH FORMAT. IT IS INDICATED THAT, FOR SOME PROGRAM (BUT NOT FOR ALL), CONSTRUCTED RESPONSES ADD TO THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION SHOULD MEAN VALIDATED INSTRUCTION, REGARDLESS OF THE FORMAT. (HH)