Preferences for asymmetry in the relationship between metaphorical topic and vehicle were investigated among 64 fifth- and seventh-grade boys and girls. Subjects viewed 12 metaphorically related pairs of pictures selected from the Metaphoric Triads Task (MTT) and were told to write a sentence that tells how one picture is like another. Slides of the two pictures in each MTT item were displayed simultaneously at the front of students' classrooms. One member of each pair was randomly designated as "A" and the other as "B." Children at each grade level were tested in two groups, and the left-right placement of the A and B pictures was counterbalanced across groups. After some responses were eliminated to produce balanced sets of responses consisting of clearly metaphorical sentences, the remaining responses were examined to determine whether each had a topic/vehicle structure or whether it was nondirectional. Nondirectional sentences, found to be proportionately high in number, were further inspected to identify which picture served as topic. With regard to directional responses, no consensus existed among subjects at either grade level as to what the direction should be. The divergence of these findings from results of a previous study of high school students is discussed. (RH)