THE EFFECTS OF LISTENING TRAINING ON THE AUDITORY THRESHOLDS OF MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN WERE DETERMINED. THE EFFECTS OF LISTENING TRAINING AND ITS PROMISE FOR LOWERED THRESHOLDS WERE INVESTIGATED AND EVALUATED FROM CHANGES IN MAGNITUDE SCORES, DIRECTION OF THRESHOLD, INTELLIGENCE, AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGES IN COMMUNICATION ATTITUDES OR RATED BY INSTRUCTORS. FROM A TOTAL OF 400 CHILDREN, ONLY 199 WERE CONSIDERED CAPABLE OF RESPONDING TO HEARING TESTS. THOSE CHILDREN WHO DEMONSTRATED HEARING THRESHOLDS OF 30 DECIBELS OR GREATER AT TWO FREQUENCIES IN THE SPEECH RANGE NUMBERED 77, REPRESENTING 38.7 PERCENT INCIDENCE OF HEARING LOSS. ADDITIONAL TESTING ILLUSTRATED A REDUCTION OF THE INCIDENCE. THE EFFECTS OF THE PROGRAM UPON AUDITORY THRESHOLDS WERE OBSERVABLE, BUT NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. POSITIVE EFFECTS WERE ILLUSTRATED IN THE OTHER AREAS INVESTIGATED. IN ORDER TO NEGATE SOME OF THE BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS WHICH INHIBIT RESPONSES TO AUDITORY STIMULI, IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT HEARING TESTS BE REPEATED AT SELECTED INTERVALS, THAT A BATTERY OF TESTS BE GIVEN, AND THAT LISTENING TRAINING PRECEDE EXAMINATIONS. (JC)