The purpose of this article is to help education practitioners and researchers understand that research about rural education is complicated not only by issues of defining "rural," but also by the often dramatic ways that rural schools differ from each other. We briefly address issues in defining rural and describe rural classification…

Quantitative behaviour analysis requires the classification of behaviour to produce the basic data. This can be challenging when the theoretical taxonomy does not match observational limitations, or if a theoretical taxonomy is unavailable. Binary keys allow qualitative observation to be used to modify a theoretical taxonomy to produce a practical…

Federal standards established in 1997 allow respondents to select multiple-race categories. These new standards changed the single-race subgroup definitions that the government has required since 1977. Meta-analysis, research on long-term assessment trends, and other research involving historical comparisons must account for the definitional…

Discusses the inconsistent and shifting ways in which the U.S. Census treats race, color, and ethnicity. Suggests that long-term conceptual frameworks be developed so that the next census will not produce uneven categories based on unequal assumptions. (EVL)

Neural network technology was compared with simultaneous and stepwise linear discriminant analysis in terms of their ability to classify and predict persons (n=138) as having autism or mental retardation. The neural network methodology was superior in both classifying groups and in generalizing to new cases that were not part of the training…

This paper reviews 20 studies that investigated the internal or external validity of various subtypes of autistic spectrum disorders. At least three groups could be distinguished from autism on clinical grounds: an Asperger syndrome subtype, and two atypical subtypes characterized by either low intelligence quotient or high intelligence quotient.…

This paper describes current neurological knowledge regarding the recognition, diagnosis, and classification of frontal lobe seizures, and then critiques a study by A. Gedye which suggested that self-injury may be involuntary and related to frontal lobe seizure activity. (JDD)

This paper reviews the research leading from the GUIDON rule-based tutoring system, including the reconfiguration of MYCIN into NEOMYCIN and NEOMYCIN's generalization into the heuristic classification shell, HERACLES. The presentation is organized chronologically around pictures and dialogues that represent turning points and crystallize the basic…

A poorly designed knowledge base can be as cryptic as an arbitrary program and just as difficult to maintain. Representing inference procedures abstractly, separately from domain facts and relations, makes the design more transparent and explainable. The combination of abstract procedures and relational language for organizing domain knowledge…

This paper reviews whether Rett syndrome is a subtype of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). The paper analyzes internal and external diagnostic validity and discusses whether Rett syndrome is a neurological disorder or a mental disorder. The paper concludes that data support the idea of classifying Rett syndrome as a subtype of PDD.…

This paper presents evidence regarding the validity of the diagnostic concept of "autistic-like" childhood disintegrative disorder, also known as Heller syndrome or as disintegrative psychosis. Its inclusion in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) is supported, and proposed criteria and narrative description are provided.…

Evaluation of 252 children with specific language impairments found varying degrees of congruence between clinically identified children and those identified using discrepancy, deficit, and standardized operational criteria. Results suggest that the global concept of a "specific language impairment" may not be a useful concept for either…

This study examined whether children (ages 6-16) diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) could be differentiated from those diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/WO), on an anterior-posterior gradient paradigm. It was predicted that ADD/H children (N=23) would have more deficits…

The islands of western Lake Erie are rock-bound isles that abound in rocky outcrops and quarries. The rocks of these islands are of two distinct types, Silurian dolomites and Devonian limestones. The dolomites, exposed in the Bass Islands and Sister Islands are virtually devoid of fossils. Conversely, the limestones of Johnson Island, Marblehead,…

Proposes that colored compounds be classified by reference to a standard color-order system incorporating a color dictionary. Argues that the colors of new compounds could be incorporated into the characterization process and into computer storage systems. (TW)