SUBJECTS OF AGES 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, AND 20 RETOLD STORIES PRESENTED IN FULL PASSIVE SENTENCES (WITH MENTION OF ACTOR) AND TRUNCATED PASSIVES (WITHOUT MENTION OF ACTOR). WHILE THERE WAS A GENERAL TENDENCY TO RETELL STORIES IN THE ACTIVE VOICE, THIS TENDENCY WAS MUCH MORE EVIDENT IN THE CASE OF FULL THAN TRUNCATED PASSIVES. IT IS PROPOSED THAT THE SIGNIFICANCE ATTRIBUTED TO ACTIVE AFFIRMATIVE DECLARATIVE SENTENCES BY EARLIER PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH BE MODIFIED, ALLOWING FOR INFLUENCE OF SEMANTIC CONTENT UPON SELECTION OF A PARTICULAR GRAMMATICAL FORM IN ENCODING A SENTENCE. THE TENDENCY TO RETELL TRUNCATED PASSIVES WITHOUT A ALTERATION OF SYNTACTIC FORM WAS MOST STRONGLY MARKED IN OLDER SUBJECTS. IRREGULAR VERB FORMS POSE DIFFICULTIES TO YOUNG CHILDREN IN ATTEMPTING TO PRODUCE PASSIVE SENTENCES. OTHER STRIKING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AGE GROUPS WERE NOT NOTED. (AUTHOR/AMM)