A study investigated the relationship between group structure and leader recognition and compared task performance with group structure and leader recognition to obtain a better understanding of the adult basic education participant. Fifteen women were randomly assigned to three groups and each given a list of six symbols. Their task was to discover which symbol they all had in common. Participants were organized in a circle (conference) or straight line (panel). A total of 15 trials was used in each task. After each set of five trials, persons were asked to identify a group leader. In the second session the recognized leader from the panel sat with the same group in the conference, and the conference group moved to the panel situation. In the third session, the recognized leader from the panel operated in a conference group with different members. After each session right and wrong answers were recorded and leader identification ascertained. Findings indicated that group structure was a more important variable in task performance than leadership recognition; the relationship between past experience in a particular group and performance in a new group was shown to be significant. Leader recognition as a factor in the efficiency of task performance could not be substantiated with this study. (aj)