American journal of mental deficiency最新文献

A theory of the cause of mental retardation that views human intelligence as a set of independent abilities organized in a complex system was presented. Mental retardation is conceived as a deficit in a few of the independent abilities having high centrality (i.e., processes most important in system functioning). Abilities affected and severity of impairment vary across individuals. Besides making specific predictions that allow rejection, the theory can be used to account for differences between Ellis's deficit theory and Zigler's developmental theory of mental retardation.

Recent emphases on deinstitutionalization and community placement have been accompanied by the development of a range of residential placement alternatives and by shifts in the control of placement decisions. In this study we examined the patterns of placement into these alternatives for 66,367 clients receiving services for mentally retarded persons from the state of California and evaluated the ability of client characteristics to discriminate among clients in four residential placement types. Results of the discriminant analyses suggest that client characteristics, including maladaptive behavior, age, ethnicity, medical problems, ambulation, toileting, and speech, are important factors in the consideration of residential placement for mentally retarded people.

The free recall of an isolated picture by 40 institutionalized adults with Down syndrome was investigated. Subjects were matched on the basis of IQ, CA, and length of institutionalization and divided into two groups. They were shown 10 pictures of common objects with (experimental) or without (control) the 6th picture printed in vivid color. Oral free recall immediately followed. The serial position curve of the control group lacked both the primacy and recency effects. Although overall recall performance remained unaffected, the experimental group recalled the isolated picture more frequently than did the control group. Results suggested that better memory of the isolate resulted from selective attention-encoding, which was induced by isolation. There appears to be a similarity between the adults with Down syndrome and nonretarded individuals in learning an isolated item.

The construct validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with mildly mentally retarded children was examined. Subjects were given three intelligence tests: the K-ABC, WISC-R, and Stanford Binet, Form L-M. Analysis of variance procedures revealed differences between the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite and the WISC-R Full Scale IQ, whereas the Stanford-Binet IQ was not reliably different from either. Correlational analysis provided supportive evidence that the K-ABC is measuring general intelligence; however, discrepancy between Sequential/Simultaneous scales and intersubtest correlations may not support distinct processing styles for mildly mentally retarded students, although this sample represents a restricted range.

The theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1973) was used to examine the relationship between attitudes toward becoming a peer tutor for a student with handicaps and actually volunteering to become a peer tutor. This model suggests that intention is the best predictor of behavior and that intention consists of an attitudinal component (attitudes toward the behavior) and a normative component (perceptions of what other people think you should do). Subjects were 125 students in Grades 5 through 7 who were told about peer tutoring and asked to volunteer. Results showed that this model can be used to predict behavior of nonhandicapped students toward their handicapped peers in an educational setting. The importance and implications of these findings were discussed.

The metal magnesium and the trace elements lead, lithium, copper, and zinc were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in the plasma of 107 residents with different types of mental retardation at a state institution in Minnesota. Twenty-six staff volunteers and 29 residents with psychosocial mental retardation served as control subjects. Plasma magnesium concentrations were normal in all retarded subjects. Lead and lithium concentrations were below detection levels in all retarded and nonretarded subjects. Low copper concentrations were found in the plasma of retarded dwarfs and of male microcephalic subjects. The most significant finding was hypozincemia in 49 subjects with Down syndrome of both sexes and all ages. Because this finding was limited to residents with Down syndrome, a nutritional deficiency is most unlikely. The possible etiological factors of hypozincemia in Down syndrome were discussed.

The applicability of the componential method developed by Sternberg (1977a) to the study of the processes used by mentally retarded subjects to solve analogies was examined in two experiments. In both experiments, prior training was found to improve performance and enhance maintenance of that performance level over time. In Experiment 1, however, subjects experienced difficulty in using "precued" analogy terms, the means by which separate estimates of the processes used to solve the analogies were made using the componential method. In Experiment 2, use of an alternative method of presenting the analogies significantly increased the use of these terms by the subjects, which, in turn, improved the applicability of the componential method to the data obtained from the subjects. This alternative method, however, also increased the overall difficulty level of the task.

Divergent literatures on potential relationships among psychological, biological, and contextual factors that may contribute to mental retardation and other types of developmental delay in the children of adolescent mothers were reviewed. A linear model was proposed to describe the direct and indirect effects of learning ability, maternal health, social support, personal adjustment, cognitive readiness for parenting, and infant characteristics on adolescent parenting and child development. Because the validity of the model can be determined through the use of causal modeling (LISREL), it holds the potential for determining a unique set of risk factors that may produce developmental delay in children of adolescent mothers. These factors can serve as the targets in designing intervention programs for such mothers.

Early treated phenylketonuric children who maintained a phe-restricted diet through age 10 were compared with those who discontinued the diet after age 6 on standardized tests of intelligence, school achievement, language, and perceptual skills. Mean IQ, reading, and spelling test scores improved between ages 6 and 10 for the on-diet children in comparison to those who were off diet. Mean scores on arithmetic, language, and perceptual skills, however, declined at a uniform rate for both groups. Children with PKU scored significantly lower than did their non-PKU siblings on tests of visual perception and visual-motor skills. We conclude that children with PKU should be maintained on a phe-restricted diet.

Handedness within a sample of mentally retarded subjects was assessed using a procedure that includes a large number of items appropriate for lower functioning subjects, with multiple presentations within and between sessions one week apart. Results revealed a dramatic shift from the normal right-handed bias primarily due to the presence of a large mixed-handedness subtype, which proved to be ambiguously handed in that these subjects showed inconsistent hand preference within items. Reasons why this subtype has not been reported previously were discussed, and a model was postulated to explain the resultant handedness distribution in terms of probable central nervous system substrate.