Depth of processing by mentally retarded and MA-matched nonretarded individuals.

Mildly mentally retarded and MA-matched nonretarded individuals were tested for speed and accuracy in responding to questions requiring different processing depth in the Craik and Tulving paradigm and then given an unexpected recognition task. Retarded individuals required progressively more encoding time relative to nonretarded individuals as processing depth increased. Both encoding and recognition accuracy, however, was equivalent for both groups; greater elaboration improved recognition in both groups. Implications for the study of retardation were presented.