RATE OF FORGETTING AND INTELLIGENCE

Research on mentally retarded subjects indicates that the well establi shed relationship between learning rate and intelligence is not accomp anied by a comparable relationship between forgetting rate and intelli gence. To date, however, almost nothing is known about the link betwee n intelligence and forgetting when subjects are exclusively drawn from the normal ability ranges. In the present study, one hundred and sixt een normal young men were asked to recall problem solutions after perf orming a distractor task consisting of one, two, or three speeded math items. The results indicate that longer distractor intervals result i n diminished recall, but, more importantly, that high and low ability subjects forget at equal rates.