The 1992 American Association on Mental Retardation definition of mental retardation is critiqued. The definition is seen as lacking precision and necessitating identification dependent upon assessment of behavioral dimensions for which there are no reliable measurement instruments. These problems, which are attributed to advocacy concerns, are…

A search of the literature to differentiate among definitions of physical discipline, corporal punishment, and physical child abuse identified five studies which revealed that abusive parents spanked their children more often than did nonabusive parents. Aggregated data from nonabusive parents suggested a "normal range" of daily spanking…

This study compared 23 children with high-functioning autism with 12 children with Asperger syndrome using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Findings indicated few group differences in current functioning but many early history differences. The Asperger syndrome group generally demonstrated less severe early symptoms, a milder developmental course, and…

Historically pesonality has been predicated on behavioral consistency. To demonstrate the uniqueness of personality using three methods, 23 female college students initially recorded self-descriptive words at the end of each of 23 days. These words were then assigned favorability values from the Adjective Generation Technique norm list. First,…

This book outlines the basic tenets and applications of the theory of temperament based on the findings of the New York Longitudinal Study begun in 1956. It describes the concept and definition of temperament, reviews studies that support and expand on the definition, and explores temperament and its impact across various practice settings and…