VISUAL-SEARCH IN UNIDIMENSIONAL ARRAYS - A COMPARISON BETWEEN SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT MENTAL-RETARDATION

Through the utilization of unidimensional visual search tasks with hom ogeneous backgrounds, 16 individuals with mental retardation and 16 in dividuals without mental retardation were tested to determine whether the efficiency of search would vary as a function of dimension (color, form, size, and line orientation,) and/or level of intelligence. Resu lts indicated group by set size interactions for the dimensions of for m and size, indicating intelligence-related differences in search effi ciency for these dimensions. In addition, pronounced performance varia bility within the group of subjects with mental retardation was eviden t. Results demonstrated no difference in efficiency of search between groups for the dimensions of color and line orientation, thus indicati ng that the processes involved in speeded visual search were intact fo r these dimensions. These findings could lead to a greater understandi ng of the functional parameters of visual information processing withi n the population of individuals with mental retardation.