Relations among metamemory, rehearsal activity and word recall of learning disabled and non-disabled readers.

Summary. Readers who were learning disabled and non-disabled between ages 8 and 10 free-recalled unrelated word lists of three different levels of rehearsal activity (spontaneous, one-item, multi-item). Prior to recall they estimated their word recall ability, while retrieval knowledge was assessed after free recall. Results indicated older children free recalled more words than younger, and non-disabled more than disabled. Learning disabled and non-disabled readers were comparable in their initial estimates of recall; however, skill of memory appraisal was unrelated to learning disabled readers' recall accuracy. Disabled readers were classified as deficient in strategic knowledge, but no differences in rehearsal activity between the two reading groups occurred. Recall differences were attributed to semantic encoding difficulties rather than to production deficiencies in rehearsal activity or in metamemory, per se.