Organization in normal and retarded children: Temporal aspects of storage and retrieval.

Abstract

Studied the flow of information from input through output in a free-recall task by means of S-paced presentation times, externalized rehearsal, and interword response times. In this context, storage and retrieval of categorized material were examined for 40 10-yr-old normal and 40 16-yr-old mentally retarded children of the same mental age. As indicated by the patterns of input and output times, instructions to rehearse according to category membership led to the formation of higher order memory units that were functional during recall. Input and output times under uninstructed conditions revealed little spontaneous use of conceptual categories in either IQ group, although provision of retrieval cues resulted in a marked increase in recall performance for these Ss. Results are discussed in terms of the chunking and recoding of input and the influence of active, organized storage processing on retrieval. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)