Although there is a long tradition of experimental laboratory research on strategies to improve basic learning and memory deficits of persons with mental retardation, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from this research since there is considerable variability across studies. In the present investigation, a meta-analysis of 268 studies was conducted. The findings suggest a deficit in subjects with mental retardation, as compared to controls without mental retardation, across 12 categories of tasks. This relative deficit remains after training, across 7 categories of strategies, when samples with mental retardation are compared to samples without mental retardation. When strategy training is compared across experimental and control samples with mental retardation, however, the effect size is .701, which compares favorably with other techniques used in special education programs. Implications of these data are discussed in relation to current school programs for children with mental retardation and the limitations of these studies, at least half of which are now more than 20 years old.
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