Discusses the evolution of research on mental retardation, which was enhanced by support from the Kennedy family, President Kennedy's determination to place a high priority on the issue, development of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and creation of 12 national Mental Retardation Research Centers, including the unique…

In discussing cognitive development in infants, the article focuses on how the infant brain is taught to learn, what the learning mechanisms are (events that happen at synaptic contacts between nerve cells that lead to learning and memory), what causes mental retardation, and what can be done to prevent or reverse mental retardation. (SM)

Examines the effects of poverty on parenting, noting the work of the Kennedy Center at Peabody College and discussing parenting as a process, how parents are influenced by poverty, how parenting in poverty influences children's development, how children are directly and indirectly influenced by poverty, and factors that mediate the debilitating…