Accumulation of and release from proactive inhibition in short-term memory by retarded and nonretarded persons.

One group of EMR adolescents and adults and three groups of nonretarded children and adolescents were compared during accumulation of and release from proactive inhibition. All groups demonstrated the effects of and release from proactive inhibition. Analyses of intralist intrusions indicated that these errors did not differentially affect performance by any group during the accumulation of proactive inhibition and did not occur during its release. These results were discussed in terms of the groups' discrimination abilities within and between taxonomies, short-term memory limitations, and the utilization of categorical information on this task by the mentally retarded subjects.