A study presented on the effect of parenting on stress response and other behaviors show that animals exposed to a high degree of nurturing show a blunted response to stress. Molecular mechanisms responsible for these differences in the adult offspring as well as the molecular mechanisms by which epigenetic effects are propagated from one…

The authors present a case study of a 70-year-old man with Down syndrome ("Mr. C.") who they followed for 16 years and who does not exhibit declines in cognitive or functional capacities indicative of dementia, despite having well-documented, complete trisomy 21. The authors describe the age-associated changes that occurred over 16 years as well…

The authors explore the contributions of social and genetic influences to religious attitudes and practices in a population-based sample of 11-18 year olds and their mothers who responded to a Religious Attitudes and Practices Inventory and Religious Rearing Practices Inventory respectively. Contrary to genetic studies examining adult religious…

At the end of a biology course entitled Ecology, Evolution, and Genetics, students were asked to consider how their learning experience had changed their perception of either ecology or genetics. Students were asked to express their thoughts in the form of a "digital story" using readily available software to create movies for the purpose of…

Genetic and environmental influences on early reading and spelling at the end of kindergarten and Grade 1 were compared across three twin samples tested in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia. Proportions of variance due to genetic influences on kindergarten reading were estimated at 0.84 in Australia, 0.68 in the U.S., and 0.33 in…

This article presents a list of this year's best practices from America's classrooms. This list was compiled by the staff of the Tech&Learning magazine. These best practices include: (1) video programs produced by the Horry County in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; (2) a gaming design course introduced at Phoebus High School, Hampton City Schools,…

In recent years there has been much research interest in looking for behavioural phenotypes (or specific profiles of strengths and weaknesses) that are associated with specific conditions--particularly conditions with genetic origins such as Down syndrome. This kind of information may be very helpful in alerting parents and professionals to the…

Extinction, a form of learning that has the ability to reshape learned behavior based on new experiences, has been heavily studied utilizing fear learning paradigms. Mechanisms underlying extinction of positive-valence associations, such as drug self-administration and place preference, are poorly understood yet may have important relevance to…

Little evidence supports that siblings with autism exhibit the same behaviors; however, some findings suggest that level of functioning shows familial aggregation. We tested this notion among multiplex families participating with the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) Consortium, using scores on the "Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third…

This article notes that many key positive developments in education originated in research on the structure and genetics of abilities, providing primary evidence for ability in disadvantaged groups and playing a critical role in demonstrating the existence of developmental learning disorders and effective interventions. It is argued that new work…

This study was conducted to examine the statistical relationship between problem solving and critical thinking to guide future teaching and research for agricultural educators using the problem-solving approach. Students enrolled in an undergraduate genetics course in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida were…

Background: If the adaptive significance of specific fears changes with age, the genetic contribution to individual differences may be lowest at the age of greatest salience. The roles of genes and environment in the developmental-genetic trajectory of five common childhood fears are explored in 1094 like-sex pairs of male and female monozygotic…

Changes in DNA base-repair may serve as an indicator of the time elapsed since divergence from a common ancestor. DNA sequences can now be analyzed. The simulation presented in this article allows students to observe the accumulation of changes in a randomly mutating sequence of playing cards. The cards are analogous to DNA nucleotide or protein…

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood neurobehavioural disorder defined by symptoms of developmentally inappropriate inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. As is the norm for most psychiatric phenotypes, traditional aetiological studies have focused primarily on the interplay between genetic and environmental…

The purpose of the present study was to determine which behavioral and physical phenotypes would be most likely to divide the ASD population into discrete subgroups. The taxometric methods of Maximum Covariance (MAXCOV) and Minus Mean Below A Cut (MAMBAC) were employed to test for categorical versus continuous variation of each phenotype across…