Forty high and low imagery nouns were taught to prereading retarded and nonretarded subjects. Each noun was taught solely as a sight word, with the only visual stimulus being the presentation of the printed word on a 3 × 5 inch index card. Recognition and retention of high imagery nouns was significantly better than for low imagery nouns for both retarded and nonretarded subjects. Between-group differences were not observed except for delay recall. Interpretations and recommendations related to the effects of imagery level on beginning sight word acquisition are included.
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