The effects of distinctive background settings on children's recognition memory for subjects and objects of related sentences was examined. As a follow-up to a study by Levin, Ghatala, and Truman (1979), the effects of presenting distinctive background contexts in sentences and multiple-choice tests were separated from the effects of providing such contexts in the sentences alone. Eighty-five grade 3 and 4 students from a racially and economically balanced, Southern elementary school participated in the study. Results indicated that when distinctive contexts were included both in related sentences and in multiple-choice test-item stems, recognition performance was significantly increased. However, the provision of distinctive contexts in the sentences alone did not enhance recognition memory. Results of the study are examined within the framework of the frequency theory of recognition memory. (Author/GK)