Advances in genetics and genetic testing promise to catalyze a fundamental change in the practice of medicine. Psychologists have much to offer as psychotherapists, researchers, educators, and policymakers to a society heavily influenced by the genetic revolution. To make the most of new opportunities available to mental health professionals in…

Selective verb and noun deficits have been observed in a number of neurological conditions and their occurrence has been interpreted as evidence for different neural networks underlying the processing of specific word categories. We describe the first case of a familial occurrence of a selective deficit of verb processing. Father (Individual I)…

Researchers and practitioners in health behavior and health education (HBHE) can play a pivotal leadership role in the integration of genomic advances to improve the public's health. The purpose of this article is to outline research and practice opportunities at the intersection of genomics and HBHE. We begin this article by briefly summarizing…

When students are given opportunities to use their knowledge to explain interesting and appropriate evolutionary phenomena, their potential for understanding evolutionary concepts increases. In this article, the authors describe a nine-week high school evolutionary biology course designed to engage students in using Darwin's natural selection…

The rise of molecular genetics is having a pervasive influence in a wide variety of fields, including research into neurodevelopmental disorders like dyslexia, speech and language impairments, and autism. There are many studies underway which are attempting to determine the roles of genetic factors in the aetiology of these disorders. Beyond the…

We report the first major genetic study of mild mental impairment. From a representative sample of 3,886 twins (1,314 monozygotic, 1,296 dizygotic same-sex, and 1,276 dizygotic opposite-sex), the lowest 5% were selected on a composite measure of verbal and nonverbal abilities assessed by parents when the twins were 2, 3, and 4 years of age. Twin…

The purpose of this study was to explore individual differences in children's tense onset growth trajectories and to determine whether any within- or between-child predictors could account for these differences. Twenty-two children with expressive vocabulary abilities in the low-average to below-average range participated. Sixteen children were at…

This study uses a multitrait, multimethod (MTMM) approach to investigate the genetic and environmental etiologies of childhood deviant peer affiliation (DPA) and problem behavior (PROB). The variability of genetic and environmental estimates by agent and method is also examined. A total of 77 monozygotic and 72 dizygotic twin pairs and each twin's…

Based on an actual event, this case study focuses on problems associated with reproductive technologies. It tells the story of the "Jones" who, after in vitro fertilization, discovered that their fraternal twins were less similar in appearance than one would expect two brothers to be. Students work in teams to unravel the mystery using DNA…

The DNA triplet code also functions as a binary code. Because double-ring compounds cannot bind to double-ring compounds in the DNA code, the sequence of bases classified simply as purines or pyrimidines can encode for smaller groups of possible amino acids. This is an intuitive approach to teaching the DNA code. (Contains 6 figures.)

Biotechnology is a cutting edge science/technology which impacts the community in many ways. For this and other reasons, it is important we encourage teachers to include biotechnology in the science curriculum. First, however, we need to know what hinders and encourages teachers. We surveyed the views of 88 high school science teachers. The …

Today's biology educators face the challenge of training their students in modern molecular biology techniques including genomics and bioinformatics. The Dolan DNA Learning Center (DNALC) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has developed and disseminated a bench- and computer-based plant genomics curriculum for biology faculty. In 2007, a five-day…

Research examining autistic symptoms in Angelman syndrome (AS) is limited. The goal of this study was to further characterize the nature of stereotyped behaviors, social interaction deficits, and developmental disturbances in individuals with AS. Parents of 248 individuals between the ages of 3 and 22 completed a survey of autistic symptomatology…

Modern biotechnology will have a large impact on society and requires informed decision-making and critical attitudes toward biotechnology among the public. This study aims to explore these attitudes in secondary education. For this purpose, a questionnaire was constructed according to the general tripartite theory of attitudes. A total of 574…

Autism susceptibility genes likely have effects on continuously distributed autism-related traits, yet few measures of such traits exist. The Broader Phenotype Autism Symptom Scale (BPASS), developed for use with affected children and family members, measures social motivation, social expressiveness, conversational skills, and flexibility. Based…