ABSTRACT
Mental retardation is a developmental disability that features both motivational and cognitive components. For example, many theories of mental retardation suggest the presence of information processing deficits related to cognitive control (e.g., Merrill & Peacock, 1994), whereas others suggest thatdifferences in motivational orientation (e.g., Haywood & Switzky, 1992) are responsible for some cognitive deficits. Mental retardation is often characterized in terms of the slowing of development, suggesting that whatever motivates or energizes development proceeds more slowly (e.g., Mundy & Kasari, 1990). Many theories suggest that there are individual differences in motivational and personality factors in people with mental retardation that influence their everyday functioning regardless of the level of intellectual functioning (e.g., Merighi, Edison, & Zigler, 1990; Switzky, 1997). Hence, there appear to be motivational differences between people with mental retardation and normally developing individuals, as well motivational differences within the populations of individuals with different syndromes that cause mental retardation.
