Short-Term Retention as a Function of Associative Strength and Retention Intervals

The effects of association strength, retention intervals, and repetition of task on paired-associate acquisition by retardates were studied. 30 retardates with an MA range of 5.6 to 9.8 were divided randomly into 3 groups of 10 subjects each, corresponding to each of the retention intervals—zero seconds, 2 seconds, and 4 seconds delay of recall. 12 paired-associate pictures representing high, medium, and low association value were presented randomly to each subject. After each presentation, subjects were required to recall the response picture associated with each stimulus picture. The results showed that associative strength and retention intervals have a significant effect on mentally retarded children's retentive process. This study suggests that the factor of immediate feedback and the use of meaningful materials should play an important role in the educational curriculum and the teaching method with exceptional children.