Data are presented concerning the numbers of students taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), and their mean scores for the period 1959 through l976. The implications of these results in relation to changes in the candidate group are discussed. A major change in the candidate group occurred when the PSAT merged with the National Merit Test. Sharp increases in scores in the years immediately following the merge can be attributed to the increased number of superior students attracted to the test because it is used as the basis for awarding scholarships. At least for the verbal portions, a discounting of the 1971-72 and 1972-73 increases in mean PSAT/NMSQT scores would result in nearly parallel trend lines for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the PSAT. (Author/EVH)