FACTORS INFLUENCING THE INTERROGATIVE STRATEGIES OF MENTALLY-RETARDED AND NONRETARDED STUDENTS

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 84  (3) , 280-288
Abstract
The interrogative strategies of institutionalized mentally retarded young adults and nonretarded 1st and 4th graders were investigated using a 20-questions type task. Subjects were presented with 8- and 16-cell matrices consisting of geometric forms, and the items that were eliminated by their questions were either covered or left uncovered. A variety of dependent measures was obtained, including information efficiency and proportion of redundant and constraint-seeking questions. Reducing array size and covering eliminated items significantly improved various aspects of children''s interrogative strategies, lending support to the idea that reducing cognitive strain can enhance information-processing ability. Despite task simplification, the performance of the 4th graders exceeded that of the 1st graders on most measures, and the performance of the retarded young adults was comparable to, or poorer than, that of the 1st graders, who were of appreciably lower mental age.

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