PERCEIVED TASK-DIFFICULTY AND INTELLIGENCE - DETERMINANTS OF STRATEGYUSE AND RECALL

Memory knowledge may be necessary but not sufficient for strategy use because aspects of the individual and the task may mediate the metamem ory-strategy use relation. Belmont and Mitchell (1987) contended that learners will be strategic only on tasks perceived to be moderately di fficult. If correct, metacognitive variables (e.g., metamemory and att ributional beliefs) would be more likely to predict strategy use on mo derately difficult tasks. In the study presented here, strategy use, p erformance, and perceptions of difficulty among students with and with out retardation were assessed. Results showed that students with menta l retardation rated tasks as more difficult than did nonretarded stude nts. Relatedly, brief training resulted in a decrease in difficulty ra tings only for students without retardation. Although strategy use was not predicted by metacognitive variables (metamemory and strategy use ) on moderately difficult tasks, metacognitive variables significantly predicted recall performance, but did so independent of task difficul ty.