RELATION OF ATTRIBUTIONAL BELIEFS TO MEMORY STRATEGY USE IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

Attributional beliefs of African American 11- and 17-year-old students with mental retardation were assessed with an open-ended interview an d the Students' Perception of Control Questionnaire. Results from the questionnaire indicated that strategy ratings were intercorrelated as were capacity ratings. Yet, the constructs of strategy and capacity we re differentiated by both age groups. Beliefs in the importance of int ernal strategies were positively related to recall and strategy use, a nd beliefs in the importance of external strategies were negatively re lated to memory strategy use and recall. Findings suggest that attribu tional beliefs vary among students with mental retardation and have th e potential to either energize or inhibit achievement-related behavior .