title: Effects of verbal elaborations on memory for sentences in adults with mental retardation.
abstract: We examined the effects of verbal elaborations on memory for verbal material in adults with mental retardation and a control group of adults of normal intelligence. During acquisition, three types of sentences were presented that differed in elaboration of the subject-adjective relationship: a) non-elaborated base sentences; b) base sentences with arbitrary verbal elaborations; and c) base sentences with explanatory verbal elaborations that clarified the significance of the subject-adjective relationship. At test, we varied the retrieval context by presenting either base sentences alone or base sentences with the verbal elaborations. A three-alternative, forced-choice recognition procedure was used to test memory for the target adjectives. Results yielded a positive effect of retrieval support (elaborations present at study and test) on recognition performance for adults with mental retardation. These data imply that the retrieval context plays an important role in recognition memory for adults with mental retardation.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 70803-5501, USA. pskatie@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Cherry
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Njardvik
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dawson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D012660:Semantics; D012759:Sheltered Workshops; D014706:Verbal Learning