Available information is reviewed on defining features and diagnostic issues related to autism and related developmental disorders. Controversies over both the boundaries and the heterogeneity within the autism syndrome are evaluated. Diagnostic rating instruments for expediting systematic sample selection are critiqued. (Author/DB)

This article examines the status of behavioral research on genetic mental retardation syndromes and finds that the field continues to struggle with three methodological issues: (1) how to think about control or contrast groups, (2) the interplay of behavioral phenotypes with development and other within-group variations, and (3) the efficacy of…

Research in the area of social cognition has suggesed that actual stimuli don't predict later judgments and responses as well as cognitive representations of and cognitive responses to those stimuli, in the form of attitudes, impressions, or causal attributions. To identify the factors most important in predicting adolescent smoking, a 4-year…