Influence of intelligence on memory development

The development of memory strategy use in children with and without mental retardation was investigated. Strategy use, recall, metamemory, and attributional beliefs were assessed over a 3-year period beginning at 10 years of age. Although both groups employed effective strategies and increased their use of these strategies across years, students without mental retardation were more strategic. Although strategy use was a significant predictor of recall for both groups, attributional beliefs and metamemory predicted recall only for the students without retardation in Years 2 and 3, respectively. Slight differences emerged as a function of intelligence in the types of strategies used as well as the ways in which strategy knowledge and beliefs were associated with memory performance.