A quantitative study is made by means of a digital computer of the dynamic behavior of certain elastoplastic systems of the shear beam type. The systems considered have from two to five degrees of freedom and particular distributions of mass, stiffness, damping, and yield level characteristics, but wide ranges of the fundamental frequency and the magnitude of the yield level are examined. The systems are subjected to two prescribed motions of the base, a simple pulse and an earthquake record. The response of each elastoplastic system is compared to that of an associated elastic system. Particular attention is given to the following aspects of the response: the location of the spring in which the maximum deformation occurs, the magnitude of the maximum deformation, and the effect of the number of degrees of freedom on the maximum deformation trends.