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The U.S. public as a whole, it appears, neither knows much about the Reagan Administration's policies toward Central America nor considers them a prime election issue. But among the relatively few who did register firm opinions in a poll of voter attitudes taken for TIME by Yankelovich, Skelly and White Inc., the convinced opponents of the President's positions outnumbered his strong supporters.

More than half of the people* questioned said they knew either "very little" (42%) or "nothing" (10%) about the situation in Central America. Another 42% said they knew "a moderate amount," while a mere 6% believed themselves to be well informed. Only 41% said that policy toward Latin America would have "a lot of influence" on their support for a presidential candidate in 1984, ranking it next to last in importance among 15 potential issues about which they were quizzed (abortion was 15th, at 40%).

Respondents divided about evenly on the Administration's policy of sending financial aid and military advisers to El Salvador. Some 37% were in favor, 40% opposed and 23% uncertain. But even those who had an opinion were generally not very sure of it. Only 29% of those opposed to the President's policy said they were likely to stick to their position; only 17% of those in favor were firm.

There was very little public support for American aid to the contra guerrillas battling the Marxist government of Nicaragua. Only 25% of those polled judged this policy to be "doing the right thing." This group trailed not only the 44% who deemed aid to the contras "wrong," but also the 31% who were unsure. In addition, only 22% of those favoring the policy said they were unlikely to change their minds, vs. 30% of the larger number against.

On one Central American question, opinion was clear and decisive. Some 67% of those polled were against sending U.S. troops to El Salvador, even as a last resort, and 51% of these opponents doubted that their view would change. Only 22% approved a commitment of American troops, and a mere 32% of this minority were resolute in their opinion.

* The survey polled 1,007 registered voters by telephone from June 27 to 29. The sampling error is plus or minus 3%. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.