Group decision-making by mentally retarded adults.

The effects of group discussion and decision-making on subsequent individual decisions of mentally retarded residents of group homes were studied. Meeting in groups of four, the subjects discussed and attempted to make group decisions of 6 of 12 interview questions (experimental) but did not discuss the remainder of the questions (control). Between the pretest and the posttest, there was a significantly greater increase in the quality of answers to the experimental than to the control questions. Also, leadership status moderately correlated with individual participation rates and initial task competence but not with verbal intelligence.