Reviews validation studies on ten procedures for diagnosing learning disabilities. Evaluates special knowledge claims of learning-disabilities specialists. Author finds procedures often lack sound empirical base, yet diagnosis/labeling of children as learning disabled continues. Concludes that specialists resort to bilogical explanations for…

The author's response to H. Reed's paper (EC 115 148), on the relationship between biological defects and educational aptitude and achievement, refutes Reed's three main points of view on empirical grounds. (For other responses and a rebuttal see EC 115 150-154.) (PHR)

Alice Rossi's 1977 article, "A Biosocial Perspective on Parenting," considered relationships among biology, the family, other social structures, and feminism. In this article, Rossi, together with a panel of sociologists and psychologists researching dimensions of physiological/psychological links to behavior, comment on the original…

A study investigated menstrual discomfort as a factor in severe problem behavior in four women with developmental disabilities and identified as having increased behavior problems at the time of menses. A multicomponent strategy, addressing both biological context and the psychosocial context (task demands), reduced problem behavior to near-zero…

Discusses books and materials published by creationist organizations to promote creation-science interpretations on the demise of the dinosaur. Compares many creationist theories with current evolution theories and geological records. (MVL)

Proposes a biosocial model of adolescent sexuality. Examines both sociological and biological factors in the sexual behavior of a sample of 102 male and 99 female urban public high school students. (FMW)

Four experiments explored adults' and grade school children's beliefs about inheritability of racial identity. Found that older children and adults believed that mixed-race children possessed black racial features. Also found that children from an integrated school, regardless of race, expected mixed-race children to have intermediate racial…

Summarizes research on parental influences on risk of adolescents becoming pregnant or causing a pregnancy. Findings are most consistent that parent-child closeness, parental supervision/regulation of children's activities, and parents' values against teen intercourse decrease risk. Findings about parent-child sexual communication are…

Examined the contribution of biological and environmental variables to 11-year-olds' phonological development. Found that temporal lobe (planar) asymmetry, hand preference, family history of reading disability, and SES explained over half the variance in phonological and verbal performance, demonstrating a linear association between cerebral…

In this enlightening volume, expert educator Robert Sylvester explains how adults can better understand teenagers through an engaging discussion of the adolescent brain. Readers will learn how to: (1) Mentor adolescents rather than attempt to manage and control them; (2) Nurture creativity, imagination, and individuality; and (3) Understand such…

Research has documented the genetic contribution of paternal alcoholism and Antisocial Personality Disorder as risk factors for adolescent deviant behavior, including substance abuse. Teens (n=147) between the ages of 12 and 19 years and their parents participated in the study. The sample consisted of 74 substance abusing teens/families drawn from…

The exact nature of the events which may predispose a person to substance abuse is not known. This paper provides a theoretical discussion and review which emphasizes three contexts which have been shown to predispose on individual to drug abuse: (1) prenatal exposure to a given substance; (2) environmental conditions present upon first exposure…

The annotated bibliography of over 1,200 citations published between 1943 and 1983 is intended as a comprehensive reference guide to the scientific study of infantile autism. After a search of the literature was conducted, the information was organized by format and subject, first for journal articles (19 topics are concerned with general…

A positive critique of three studies on cultural assimilation of Mexican Americans ("Dimensions of the New Immigration to the United States and the Prospects for Assimilation" by Douglas Massey, a series of articles by Miriam Wells, and "Language, Mexican Immigration, and the 'Human Connection': A Perspective from the Ethnography of Communication"…

A basic tenet of this paper is that, from the time of the ancient Greeks, Western thought has distinguished between rational processes unique to humans and the processes governing animal behavior. A model of motivation, emotion, and the cognitive/physiological interaction that can be applied to both animals and humans is presented. The special…