The existence of critical listening abilities as part of general listening ability was explored. The abilities were: (1) Detecting the Speaker's Purpose, (2) Analyzing and Judging Propaganda, and (3) Analyzing and Judging Arguments. Critical listening was defined as the process of examining spoken materials in the light of related objective evidence, comparing the ideas with some consensual data, and concluding or acting upon the judgment made. Eighteen lessons were developed to teach critical listening ability, an instrument was constructed for testing at elementary level, and an item analysis was made. Volunteer classes in the fifth and sixth grades (N=287) in Dallas, Texas were assigned to experimental and control groups. Statistical data were analyzed by factor analysis, correlation, analysis of variance, and t-tests. Conclusions support the evidence of the existence of related but separate critical listening abilities as part of general listening ability, a part which can be tested and improved. (Author/LS)