THIS MANUAL DESCRIBES MEASURES USED IN "THE COGNITIVE ENVIRONMENTS OF URBAN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN" PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. THE SAMPLE FOR THE STUDY CONSISTED OF 163 NEGRO MOTHER-CHILD PAIRS SELECTED FROM 3 SOCIOECONOMIC CLASSES BASED ON THE FATHER'S OCCUPATION AND THE PARENTS' EDUCATION. A FOURTH GROUP INCLUDED FATHER-ABSENT FAMILIES. THE MOTHERS WERE INTERVIEWED AT HOME AND THE MOTHERS AND CHILDREN WERE TESTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO WHEN THE CHILDREN WERE 4 YEARS OLD. FOLLOW-UP DATA WERE OBTAINED WHEN THE CHILDREN WERE 6 AND AGAIN WHEN THEY WERE 7. THE TOY SORTING TASK WAS THE FIRST OF 3 MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTION TASKS GIVEN DURING THE SECOND UNIVERSITY TESTING SESSION. THE OTHER 2 ARE DESCRIBED IN MANUALS PS 000 487 AND PS 000 489. THE TASK CONSISTED OF GROUPING 9 TOYS INTO 3 CLASSES BASED ON EITHER THE KIND OF TOY OR ITS COLOR. THE MOTHER WAS SHOWN THE 2 POSSIBLE SORTING METHODS AND WAS THEN ASKED TO TEACH HER CHILD HOW TO SORT THE TOYS BOTH WAYS. THE MOTHER WAS GIVEN FREEDOM OF TIME AND METHOD FOR TEACHING HER CHILD. THE TECHNIQUES USED TO OBSERVE HER TEACHING ARE DESCRIBED IN PS 000 491. THE CHILD WAS THEN ASKED TO SORT THE TOYS THE WAY HIS MOTHER TAUGHT HIM AND TO TELL THE REASON FOR EACH SORT. THE SCORING WAS ON A 6-POINT SCALE, A POINT BEING GIVEN FOR EACH CORRECT SORT, FOR A PARTIAL EXPLANATION OF EACH SORT, AND FOR A FULL EXPLANATION OF EACH SORT. THE COMPLETE SET OF PROJECT MANUALS COMPRISES PS 000 475 THROUGH PS 000 492. (DR)