A reevaluation of a number of experiments suggests that normal and retarded persons differ on short-term memory tasks from the time of initial stimulus exposure. The hypothesis that memory differences are due to differential encoding as a result of more adequate rehearsal by the normal subjects is unacceptable. (Author/BW)

Forty young adults with mental retardation (MR) were compared to 40 young adults without mental retardation in tests examining postpractice interference effects in naming colors of Stroop words. The study concluded that practice developed automatized reading suppression responses which held greater cognitive inertia for longer periods among MR…

Retarded and nonretarded persons were compared on a task designed to preclude the use of cognitive strategies. Results suggest the possible importance of automatic processing deficiencies and invite a reconsideration of the idea that the relationship between intelligence and memory is due entirely to effortful processes. (LMO)