ABSTRACT:Guided by the hypothesis that imagining actions is a way of rehearsing actions in the service of effective adaptations to reality, various characteristics of imagined motion, assessed by the Rorschach Test, were compared in hospitalized suicidal and nonsuicidal preadolescents and adolescents, and in public school children. A number of differences were found for example, suicidal children imagined less vigorous motion than distinguished suicidal and nonsuicidal children and preadolescent and adolescent suicidal children. Further, the scale devised to assess imagined motion successfully predicted about 75 percent of the suicidal children. Implications for diagnosis and treatment of suicidal children are discussed.