Literature is reviewed on biobehavioral state and orienting (the reflex alerting to a novel stimuli and resulting in physiological arousal) in an attempt to identify conditions that are prerequisite to or facilitate learning in the profoundly retarded. Several areas are identified where further research is needed. (Author)

From a review of empirical research, a new theoretical synthesis of anxiety's effect on learning and memory is proposed: anxiety always reduces processing effectiveness, by generating task-irrelevant processing activities, but this will not impair performance efficiency if sufficient compensatory effort is expended. (SJL)