A study was made of the relative merits of recall and learning in providing older persons with a choice of activity. Data were collected on the knitting performance of 73 subjects. A form of pretest-posttest experimental design with nine subgroups was used. Subjects were grouped by age (45-65 versus 65 and over) experience with knitting (no experience, five to 15 years without practice, and 20 or more years without practice) and health (allegedly healthy subjects and those under treatment for chronic mental or physical disabilities). Tests were selected to measure finger dexterity, attitudes toward self, and attitudes toward learning. The evidence suggested five broad conclusions: (1) repetitious manual skills learned in youth may be reactivated in later maturity and old age with relatively little instruction; (2) age may affect motor skill learning ability but have little effect on retention; (3) differences in length of interval without practice have little effect on long-term retention of motor skills by older persons; (4) attitudes toward learning and self bear little relationship to motor skill learning or relearning in older persons; and (5) other things being equal, chronic disability does not depress the learning or relearning ability of older persons. (author/ly)