This study was designed to compare the psycholinguistic abilities of a randomly selected sample of 32 kindergarten children and 32 first grade children (with no kindergarten experience) and to analyze any discrepancy existing between psycholinguistic age (PLA) and chronological age (CA). Each of the kindergarten classrooms from which children were selected was staffed by a teacher and teacher assistant who had received a 6-week intensive training session emphasizing language development. Instruction was largely informal, although perception, language, and concept development were emphasized. A wide variety of materials was available for self-selection by children. Each of the eight first grade classrooms was staffed by one teacher who had received no special training. Instruction was highly structured for total group participation in a teacher dominated atmosphere. The rooms were usually void of materials that could be self-selected by students. Both groups were given the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) at the end of 5 months of school. Analysis of variance of the data indicated that the kindergarten children scored significantly higher than the first graders on seven of the 10 subtests of the ITPA and that the discrepancy between CA and PLA was significantly less for kindergarten subjects than first grade subjects. (MG)