Scarr and Weinberg's results (Intelligence, 1977) are compared to those of similar adoption studies and found to be quite similar, despite the transracial adoption patterns in Scarr and Weinberg's sample. The author also suggests that the major contribution of behavioral genetics to psychology may be our increased understanding of the environment.…

Anthropological models can be used to study gender differences and identify biologically given differences, experientially given differences, and socially created differences in men and women. Research on gender-specific behavior should always be done by both men and women in cross-cultural contexts to correct for prejudice, bias, and myopia.…

Brief analyses of three recent examples of biological determinism: sex roles, overpopulation, and sociobiology, are presented in this article. Also a brief discussion of biological determinism and education is presented. (MR)

Explores sources on sex differences in reading achievement and presumed causes. Reports that explanations fall into two categories that are not necessarily mutually exclusive: physiological-maturational and cultural-societal. (NH)

The role of biological maturity in behaviors in adolescents which most often are considered as negative by adults was investigated for a normal group of girls. (Author/LMO)

Analysis of diagnoses made and treatment recommended by school psychologists (N=100) for a case study (half identifying the student as deaf and half not identifying the student as handicapped) suggested the existence of "diagnostic overshadowing" (when a primary disability diagnosis alters diagnostic and treatment recommendations…

A group of 43 children classified as either behaviorally inhibited or uninhibited at 21 months were observed at four years of age in situations designed to evaluate behavior with an unfamiliar peer, heart rate and heart rate variability to cognitively challenging tasks, reluctance to answer difficult questions, and differential fixation of an…

Teachers and researchers of public speaking, rhetoric, small group, or interpersonal communication are all affected by research in communication competence. This essay discusses the consequences of applying a developmental-biological perspective to understanding the nature of communication competence. (PD)

The father's role in infancy is currently undergoing a major re-evaluation. Evidence from various sources indicates that the father is capable of playing an active role in infant development. A series of observational studies indicated that fathers are interested and involved with newborn infants and as nurturant as mothers. (Author)

Data from questionnaires sent to every college and university in the United States ascertained that 26 percent of the 223 responding major institutions offered a bioethics course, most frequently presented by the biology department to medical students and taught most frequently by professors of ethics and philosophy background. Questionnaire and…

The publication of "The Bell Curve" by R. Herrnstein and C. Murray enraged many with its contention that black children are genetically less able to learn because of their race and its suggestions that some groups may be less worthy of the expenditure of attention and resources because of a reduced capacity for education. This collection…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a study that examined the importance of personality to identity formation in Terman's sample of 1,528 intellectually gifted children in 1936 and 1940. Based on the children's responses to questions concerning their occupational choice and factors that influenced their decision, participants were classified into…

This study investigates the controversy over whether or not culture has an effect on child and adolescent psychopathology. It presents the two opposing positions held in the field. The "universalists" argue that child and adolescent psychopathology is significantly similar across cultures. The "culturalists" argue that culture…

Proposed is an approach to child development which holds that intellectual capacity, neuromuscular development, language development, and temperament are overlapping areas; and considered are often unrecognized behavioral aspects of temperament. (MC)