Schizophrenia as mental illness is defined in terms of diagnostic criteria which do not include the full range of psychosocial difficulties that shape the lived experience of persons with this diagnosis and affect their quality of life. The biopsychosocial approach found in the World Health Organization's International Classification of…

The author reviews theories and research on the etiology of infantile autism, specifically regarding its organic basis. He cites controversies over its organic vs. environmental basis and over the family's impact on autism. Quotes from such theoriests as L. Kanner, B. Bettleheim, and B. Rimland are presented along with E. R. Ritvo and M. Coleman.…

This paper advances the bio-kinetic hypothesis that the Agent-action-Objective (AaO) axiom constitutes the only valid foundation for a behavioral expression of the informational dimensions contained in natural language. Based on the bookkeeping capacity of the discovered AaO mechanism, it is shown that this mechanism can capture emergent (AaO)…

The goal of synergistic psychology is to synthesize different psychological theories into an explanation of how social, cognitive and biological factors interact in human behavior. Synergism refers to the mutually co-operating action of separate substances which taken together produce an effect greater than that of any component taken alone. The…

Explores the interplay between nature and nurture using antisocial behavior as the example, and discusses key genetic concepts and key environmental concepts. The final section considers the nature-nurture interaction in relation to passive, evocative, and active gene-environment correlations and calls for research into the effects of the…

Four studies investigated children's explanations for family resemblance and species-typical characteristics, under different conditions of biological parentage and rearing environment. Participating were 226 children between 3 and 11 years. Children Children were presented with a number of different tasks, some involving people and some domestic…

The modern history of biology shows how Darwin's selectionist theory has replaced instructionist theories in explaining the operations of living things: first with inheritance through the gene pool of the 1850s, and second with the replacement of a template theory of immune system function in the 1960s. Today scholars in several disciplines…

In the field of communication studies the preeminent forms of explanation of human behavior have been the social and psychological, but biological origins may be as important to understanding human communication as are social origins. Communication research suggests a biological basis for certain patterns of adult interaction. Although these…

Discusses how human evolution affects the achievement of flow experiences, including the role of complexity, or people's need to take on a greater range of challenges and opportunities to increase their skill level. Describes evolutionary obstacles to complexity, such as genetic instructions to conserve energy, and ways to overcome these…

The paper examines the incidence of minor physical anomalies (MPAs) in 42 normal junior high Ss, 24 kindergarten Ss in a middle class district, 52 status and misdemeanor delinquents, 70 adolescent psychiatric patients, 32 learning disabled children, and 10 autistic children. MPAs included facial asymmetry, epicanthal folds, and geographical or…

This study examining children's understanding of biological inheritance addressed four central questions: (1) are young children able to distinguish between the relative influences of nature and nurture in their understanding of how physical characteristics versus behaviors and preferences develop in animals? (2) does children's understanding of…

This paper discusses factors that relate to the development of children's theory of mind. Cognitive and biosocial views of the development of theory of mind are distinquished. The paper maintains that all cultures recognize the intentional personhood of children in the first two years, though they vary in their methods of dealing with this…

A longitudinal study of mental development during the first 6 years of life was conducted to determine whether different social and biological variables were related to mental development at different ages. A total of 218 children having complete neonatal records of 12 biological variables were studied at 6-month intervals until the children were…

Lev Vygotsky argues that natural properties as well as social relations, constrain--and therefore make possible--the social construction of a child's higher psychological processes. Most social constructivists in the cultural-historical tradition focus on three Vygotskian tenets: (1) the internalization of auxiliary cultural means or signs…

This paper reviews the evidence for various biological mechanisms in autism and discusses implications of these mechanisms for treatment. A brief introductory discussion examines the history of research on autism. Then the literature is reviewed and treatment implications are drawn for the following biological mechanisms: genetic disorders;…