This study investigated the effects of advance organizers on selected cognitive styles and structures within a programmed task of grammatical usage. More specifically, the immediate effects of advance organizers were assessed as they related to subjects' field dependency or independency and high or low levels of prior knowledge of general grammar principles. Data were collected from 80 eleventh and twelfth graders who scored at the extreme ends of continua of measurement for both characteristics. Two sessions, held three weeks apart, provided the opportunity to alternate treatment groups' exposure to the setting in which advance organizers preceded testing of grammatical usage. It was concluded that subjects with high prior knowledge scored significantly higher on tests conducted in both sessions than did those with low prior knowledge and that field-independent subjects performed better than did field-dependent subjects on post-criterion testing which followed the first session. Findings did not, however, generally support Ausubel's theory that advance organizers manipulate cognitive structure and interact with cognitive styles to facilitate learning. (KS)