It has been suggested that learning potential (LP), a patient's ability to benefit from training and practice, may mediate the relationship between cognition and functional outcome. Aims of this study were to (1) assess whether performance on a verbal memory-based measure of LP is associated with readiness for psychosocial rehabilitation; and (2) assess whether explicit cognitive training in memory strategies improves task performance beyond any implicit learning of organizational strategies that occurs with repeated exposure to to-be-learned material. Fifty outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were administered three different versions of a list-learning test, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II). Some patients also received explicit training in semantic memory strategies before administration of the second word list. Based on performance across the three assessments, participants were categorized as "learners", "high scorers", and "non-learners". Participants were also administered the Micromodule Learning Test (MMLT), a measure that predicts performance in manualized skill training groups. LP categorization was associated with performance on the MMLT. High scorers performed better than the other two groups, and as found in earlier studies, education level was associated with performance for the learners. Explicit semantic clustering training was associated with increases in the use of the trained strategy.