Free recall of nonretarded and EMR children: associative and categorical bases of clustering.

A 12-item stimulus list composed of three conceptual categories, each with two low- and two high-associated word pairs, was presented for free recall. Twenty EMR preadolscents, 20 EMR adolescents, and 20 nonretarded fourth-grade children showed associative clustering in accordance with preexperimental interitem associative strength. The nonretarded children showed significantly greater recall and categorical clustering than did the EMR groups. No groups benefited from instructions to cluster. Nonretarded children do not appear to need outside help to accomplish clustering of categorizable material, whereas retarded persons seem to require stronger interventions to induce organization in recall.