AN EXPLORATORY STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE NONLINEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THEIR INFORMATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. THE FIRST PROBLEM WAS TO MEASURE THE RELATIVE EFFECTS UPON LEARNING OF (1) VISUAL IMAGES PRESENTED NONLINEARLY (CUMULATIVELY OR SIMULTANEOUSLY) AND (2) VISUAL IMAGES PRESENTED LINEARLY (SEQUENTIALLY). EXAMINATION OF THIS VARIABLE WAS ALSO EXTENDED TO INCLUDE VARIATIONS IN THE TREATMENT OF CONTENT - TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS UPON LEARNING OF SUBJECT MATTER PRESENTED AT SEVERAL LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION. EXPLORATIONS WERE CONDUCTED AT TWO GRADE LEVELS, SIXTH AND EIGHTH. EFFECTS WERE MEASURED ON THREE LEVELS OF LEARNING - KNOWLEDGE, COMPREHENSION, AND APPLICATION. EACH OF SIX FILMS SHOWN TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS WERE FILMOGRAPHS. RESULTS ARE REPORTED FOR EACH GRADE GROUP. FOR BOTH GRADE LEVELS IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT (1) MODE OF PRESENTATION HAS LESS EFFECT ON LEARNING AS THE STUDENT GROWS OLDER AND (2) ABILITY TO COMPREHEND AND TO APPLY SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS TYPE TAUGHT IN THESE WAYS IMPROVES WITH AGE. EXPLORATORY IMPLICATIONS OF THE DATA AND CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ARE PRESENTED. (JC)