The development of persuasive strategies by mentally retarded children.

The persuasive strategies of educable mentally retarded children were examined in terms of their level of perspective-taking ability. Forty mentally retarded children and 40 non-mentally retarded children constructed persuasive messages to a familiar and unfamiliar target. There were 10 children from each group in the mental ages of 6, 8, 10, and 12 years. Significant differences were found for age and target but not between the groups. The results are discussed in terms of the social-cognitive and communicative skills of educable mentally retarded children.