The institutionalized retarded group was found to be more imitative on the first task. For all groups, peers as opposed to adults were found to be the more salient model on the second task than the other groups suggesting more compliant personalities in the institutionalized group. Author/SW)

Data summaries from 100 years of formal surveys of population and administrative characteristics of public residential facilities for mentally retarded people in the areas of total population, average number of residents per institution, annual per capital cost of care, resident movement, and resident to staff ratios are presented to show trends.…

Case studies of deaf or hearing impaired persons in institutions for the mentally retarded illustrate the ways in which the "invisible handicap" can mask cognitive ability, causing unnecessary institutionalization. (CL)

An information processing model was used to examine the coding and language functions of 88 institutionalized, moderately, and severely retarded persons. Contextual grammatical structures were found to relate to sequential processing, whereas comprehension and expression of relational thought was related to both sequential processing and…

The generalization of a previously trained interrogative response ("What's that?") was investigated in using eight severely retarded institutionalized individuals from 8 to 22 years old. (Author)

Suggests that persons who bring charges of child abuse within an institution should be sure of the facts and have a plan of action with alternative strategies. Emphasizes that the need of the child for protection must be considered in both internal and external reports of abuse. (Author/GC)

The effects of living unit (ward) staff input and participant (78 retarded adults) input into activity selection on participation in goal-directed activities were studied. The results reflect the importance of both living unit staff and participant's input into the decision-making process. (Author)

When 59 institutionalized mildly retarded persons evaluated a target person labeled as institutionalized or unlabeled, the institutionalized person was rated as favorably as the noninstitutionalized person on all of the adjective traits. However, all Ss showed a preference for the noninstitutionalized person on two social-distance items.…

Contrary to an earlier report, this study showed that life satisfaction of 56 institutionalized elderly women was associated with internality. Satisfaction was inversely related to their perception of institutional constraints, its most powerful determinant. (Author)

The study was designed to determine the effects of repeated trials on the reliability of physical fitness performance scores of thirty-six 12- to 20-year-old institutionalized mentally retarded children. (Author)

Discusses the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1986. Describes recent mental health reform history. Defines patient advocates' role and responsibilities. Presents illustrations of types of cases encountered by patient advocate. Explores implications of this role for the mental health counselor. (Author/CM)

Subjected adolescents on 16-bed token economy ward of state hospital to 4 interventions in 7-phase experiment to reduce number of fines they received each day. No significant differences in average fines per day, number of residents meeting criteria, or mean number of zero-fine days per week were found across phases. (Author/NB)

Utilizes the socio-environmental perspective to compare feelings of communication apprehension and perceived loneliness between nursing home and non-nursing home residents. Finds that communication apprehension consistently and significantly predicts perceived loneliness for non-nursing home residents, but fails to predict perceived loneliness for…

Compared residualized Kendrick Battery scores, measures of affect, and measures of organicity among 53 elderly persons to determine measures' ability to differentiate elderly persons who survived and those who did not. Results suggest that Kendrick Battery subtests, measures of depression and organicity, in combination with length of…

The study sought to identify factors that influence the willingness of persons associated with 24-hour residential care to report possible abuse and neglect events. The survey of 598 respondents in five states found characteristics of the event, the resident, staff, and respondent attitudes components of a hierarchical regression model. (Author/DB)