Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (92nd, Boston, 1968).

The 1994 publication of "The Bell Curve" by R. Herrnstein and C. Murray is compared to other examples of eugenic principles, including the sterilization of "feebleminded" Carrie Buck, family degeneracy studies focusing on lower class Caucasian families, and other works that view the poorest and least educated members of society…

The author cites the existence of parallel brain and mind growth spurts (phrenoblysis) in the periods 2-4, 6-8, 10-12, and 14-16 years, and suggests that early intervention programs for retarded children should be based on periods of greatest brain growth. (CL)

This address examines the future of biobehavioral science and the opportunities and pitfalls it holds for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Examples of recent advances in genetics and neurosciences are discussed, as well as opportunities that these advances hold for understanding the effects of the environment on…

Historical discussions of the euthanasia or "lethal chamber" option in relation to people with mental retardation are presented. The paper concludes that eugenic beliefs in the primacy of heredity over environment and the positive role of natural selection may have condoned the poor conditions characteristic of large, segregated institutions and…