Gagne proposed in his learning hierarchy model that a final task could not be performed by an individual who does not have the subordinate skills, and that any superordinate task involved in the hierarchy of skill building could be performed by an individual provided suitable instructions were given, and provided the relevant subordinate knowledge could be recalled by that individual. This particular theory of knowledge acquisition was investigated using a learning hierarchy of kinematics that had been previously validated through other research. A pilot study with students in grades five through eight was conducted, and 173 fifth and sixth graders were selected to participate in this study. The study began with a pretest that evaluated the subjects' abilities in subtraction, division, and seven additional skill areas. An instructional booklet taught subjects all the skills but the one(s) they were supposed to skip according to their treatment groups. A posttest was then administered to examine subjects on five items for each skill that was taught. A 4 x 2 factorial design was used--four levels of skipping treatment were crossed with two levels of mathematics ability--and ANOVAs were used to determine significant differences among the dependent measures. The hypothesis was supported that skipping one or more subordinate skills does not affect some learners' performance on the skipped skills and the skill above them. It was found that subjects' performance in a skipping condition depends on the content-related ability of the individual, and the size and type (coordinate or subordinate) of skip. (9 references) (CGD)