The development of memory strategy use in children with and without me
ntal retardation was investigated. Strategy use, recall, metamemory, a
nd attributional beliefs were assessed over a 3-year period beginning
at 10 years of age. Although both groups employed effective strategies
and increased their use of these strategies across years, students wi
thout mental retardation were more strategic. Although strategy use wa
s a significant predictor of recall for both groups, attributional bel
iefs and metamemory predicted recall only for the students without ret
ardation in Years 2 and 3, respectively. Slight differences emerged as
a function of intelligence in the types of strategies used as well as
the ways in which strategy knowledge and beliefs were associated with
memory performance.