Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which failure precipitates physiological arousal (palmar sweating) in kindergarten children. High interfinger and interobserver reliability were repotted on measurements of palmar sweating collected from children of varying socioeconomic, residential, and early school backgrounds; however, for none of these children did palmar sweating increase differentially contingent upon failure as contrasted with success. The lack of significant differences between success and failure groups may raise questions regarding the interpretation of studies with young children in which manipulations of failure are expected to affect learning or performance variables.