Effects of encoding and retrieval strategies on the recall of learning disabled and normal children

Fifth- and sixth-grade learning disabled (LD) and normal boys and girls (N = 120) were presented 36 categorizable pictures in either a random or blocked (by categories) format. Recall was either free, cued, or constrained cued. LD children recalled fewer pictures than normal children except under the cued recall condition, a finding which suggests a failure on the part of LD children to employ retrieval strategies spontaneously. Clustering scores for LD and normal children did not differ. Therefore, the deficient recall of LD children did not appear to be associated with failure to use clustering as an encoding strategy. Both the encoding and retrieval conditions contributed significantly to the overall variance in amount recalled.