Memory-For-Designs,Intelligence,and Achievement of Educable Mentally Retarded Children

Abstract

Relationships between Memory-for-Designs test, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) were determined for classes of 12 and 14 educable mentally retarded children. Rank-difference rs showed that Memory-for-Designs errors correlated significantly with WISC Verbal IQs (—0.78), WISC Performance IQs (—0.85), and WISC Full Scale IQs (—0.96) for Class 1, and with WRAT Reading (—0.79) and WRAT Arithmetic (—0.70) for Class 2, implying that Memory-for-Designs may supplement the other tests in placement of children into educable mentally retarded classes. The high r (—0.96) between Memory-for-Designs and WISC Full Scale IQs indicates that a major component in intelligence is visual memory, which accounts for 84% of the variance of intelligence and suggests the possibility of improving intelligence through visual memory training in the schools.