In court practice, the MCA criterion “to retain” was predominantly linked to the ability to remember. However, abilities to appreciate and to grasp information or concepts were also cited. These latter links were often artefactual, e.g., the judges often tended to recite two or more MCA criteria together as a turn of phrase, e.g., “[P] also understands and has retained the information that…”, which meant that some rationales which clearly pertained to understanding were also coded as linked to ‘retain’.
Recommendation – “retaining” should be cited only in relation to the ability to remember relevant information. See here for further discussion.