The performance of 77 retarded young adults and adults on five short-term memory tasks was analyzed in order to determine whether these talks possessed construct and ecological validity. (Author)

Thirty-two mentally retarded and 23 nonretarded adults viewed slides of four retarded and four nonretarded preschoolers. They were asked to label facial expressions depicting four emotional states: happiness, anger, sadness, neutrality. Among results were that retarded adults used the label "happy" most often, while nonretarded adults used the…

The prevalence of speech and hearing impairment was examined in a sample of 518 mentally retarded persons (mean age 35 years) currently residing in community residential facilities. The prevalence of speech impairment was found to be approximately 51 percent, while hearing impairment was found in about 15 percent of the sample. (Author)

The ability of the sensitivity prediction from acoustic reflex (SPAR) technique to estimate hearing loss in 32 trainable mentally retarded Ss (adults and young adults with normal to profound hearing loss) was investigated by comparing measured pure-tone thresholds determined through tangible-reinforcement operant-conditioning audiometry with…

Information is presented from results of administration of the Socio-Knowledge and Attitudes Test to 200 retarded persons aged 18 to 41 (equal sex distribution), most of whom were moderately or severely retarded. (Author/CL)

Situational (A-state) anxiety reactions of mildly mentally retarded adults were studied using a self-report anxiety inventory under four sets of conditions ranging from presumed high to presumed low stress. Significant results show higher overall anxiety under stressful conditions and lower anxiety scores for individuals employed and socially…

Measures of cognitive, verbal, and functional performance obtained at widely separated time periods were examined for adults with Down syndrome. Comparisons of first and last test profiles demonstrated significant increases over five years, not attributable to year of entry into program, history of institutionalization, or age of the individuals.…

The "relocation syndrome" in 16 multiply handicapped, institutionalized mentally retarded residents (mean age 18 years) was examined in an observational study. Weight change and the initiation and duration of constructive and nonconstructive behavior were observed, as well as resident-staff interactions before and after relocation to a new living…

Data from ethnographic studies of four samples of community-living mentally retarded persons showed that the majority used drugs and alcohol rarely or not at all, and less often than their nonretarded parents, siblings, spouses, and friends. Those who did use alcohol or drugs typically did so in socially acceptable ways. (Author/CL)

Three experiments involving institutionalized mentally retarded persons revealed that the antecedent stimulus manipulation (i.e., hiding the candy or the kitty) was critical to establishing correct performance, while manipulation of the consequent stimuli afffected performance slightly. Findings had implications for reinforcement conditions. (CL)

Sixty mentally retarded adults judged whether exemplars were members of their respective categories and how representative they were. There was little evidence of a developmental relationship between typicality ratings given by retarded and nonretarded persons, but there were significant relationships among the groups for specific categories.…

Twenty-seven retarded sheltered workshop employees were trained on discrimination tasks using combinations of preference, prompt, and task agreement. Data revealed that when the learners were prompted in the dimension of the target discrimination, fewer errors were made, training time was reduced, and fewer training trials were required to reach…