Comparison of mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded children on a rotary pursuit task under optimal task conditions.

The performance of 80 mildly mentally retarded and 133 nonretarded children were compared on a rotary pursuit task to determine whether augmentation of response-produced feedback by supplementary sensory feedback would facilitate acquisition. The presentation methods and modes of sensory feedback were also examined to determine whether equity in acquisition between the mildly retarded and their nonretarded counterparts could be achieved. All subjects were assigned randomly to selected feedback treatments, yielding four mildly retarded and seven nonretarded groups. Acquisition of the rotary pursuit task was achieved by all subjects under response-produced and supplementary feedback conditions; however, acquisition in selected groups in the mildly retarded category was enhanced to a greater degree by the additional feedback than in their nonretarded counterparts.