This status study provides evidence supporting the feasibility of teaching certain probability concepts to fifth and sixth grade students. The study employed an interview technique to analyze the status of three basic concepts of probability--sample space, probability of an event, choosing the most likely of two events. The effects of visual aids on the child's ability to solve problems involving these concepts were also measured. Socioeconomic, grade, and I.Q. differences were explored in relation to visual aids and the three concepts. The study indicated that the status of these concepts is related to I.Q. socioeconomic background, and to a lesser degree, grade differences. All differences were in the expected direction. The children had learned a significant amount about the three concepts without formal instruction. The children from a middle-class area were more successful at the verbal level than the children from the low socioeconomic area. The study showed that none of the students knew initially to assign a probability number to the chances of an event occurring. The study indicates that the counting of sample points is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for assigning a probability to an event. (Author/FL)