Although they have limited academic ability, mentally retarded children may be quite adept at social interaction or physical, artistic, or other tasks. Research was conducted to examine the creative, self-concept, and impulsive characteristics of MR pupils and to examine and compare, as to age and intellectual development, the performance of both TMR and EMR pupils on Piagetian tasks of conservation. Tests were administered to investigate four factors of divergent thinking and self-esteem (in which EMR scores were compared with groups of non-retarded children) and the relationships among intellectual ability, conservation skills, and impulse control (in which EMR and TMR scores are compared). The following conclusions were drawn from results: (1) EMR children express creativity in a fashion nearly as effective as that of children of higher intelligence; (2) EMR pupils exhibit lower estimates of self-worth than do more advantaged learners. However, the self-concept of EMR pupils may differ little from that of similarly disadvantaged pupils (such as black pupils in newly integrated classes); (3) in this MR sample, impulse control appears positively related to intellectual ability; and (4) in this MR sample, there were positive relationships between performance on intellectual, conservation, and impulse control tasks. (For related documents, see TM 002 526-528, 530-541.) (KM)