American journal of mental deficiency最新文献

The use of contingent social and edible reinforcement and physical guidance-without desensitization-in the treatment of stair avoidance behavior by a severely mentally retarded adult was tested. Results indicate that this operantly based procedure was effective in increasing stair use, both ascent and descent, in staircases containing 5 and 11 stairs.

A nationwide mail survey on self-injurious behavior (SIB) and stereotypies was carried out among noninstitutionalized mentally retarded people in the Federal Republic of Germany. The estimated SIB prevalence among 25,872 retarded persons from 294 service facilities was 1.7%, which is considerably lower than earlier estimates based on samples of institutionalized persons. Prevalence of stereotypic behavior among individuals with SIB was 65%, compared to 62% in a control sample of persons without SIB. A cluster analysis distinguished three SIB clusters. Different types of stereotypic behavior were found to be differentially related to different types of SIB.

Ten severely retarded children who engaged in object stereotypies were observed during 10, 1-hour sessions in various contexts of their living and school environments. The percentage of object stereotypies performed and the nature of the objects manipulated were described. For the children as a group, context did not affect the level of object stereotypies, but other stereotypies were performed most often during music sessions. In Study 2 the objects manipulated in a stereotyped manner were presented to six people who were asked to describe the physical dimensions of the object when it was moved. Judges found that most children appeared to respond to flexibility, whereas some children appeared to respond to other feedback. Study 3 was designed to validate the dimensions selected by the judges. Each dimension agreed on by five of the judges in Study 2 was used to construct sets of five objects that varied with respect to that dimension. The children were presented with the set of objects and differential manipulation along the dimension was assessed. The judges' selections were partially validated.

Zigler, Balla, and Hodapp (1984) have proposed that mental retardation be defined as an IQ at least 2 standard deviations below the mean and classified as having organic or genetic etiology. These proposals are found to be based upon questionable assumptions about mental retardation. An alternative conceptual framework for definition of mental retardation is proposed and used to evaluate the merits of IQ and social competence in determining mental retardation. The use of IQ alone is judged to be inappropriate and potentially harmful when applied to individuals and when used to formulate public policy. Other researchers have established that there is insufficient evidence to attribute genetic or organic etiology to most mental retardation.

Educational contexts for integrating 245 severely retarded students, ages 3 to 22 years, were conceptualized in terms of an ecological model. Measures were developed for school resources and staff support, educational planning, characteristics of integrated severely retarded students, the social environment, the physical environment, and the specific interactive environment. The degree of integration of each severely retarded student was measured by the rate per minute of social bids that students directed toward nonretarded students in the environment. Eight 10-minute observation sessions were scheduled across a school year. Stepwise-regression analyses were used to select measures representative of each aspect of the educational ecology. Approximately 32% of the variance in degree of integration was uniquely associated with the social behavior that other students directed toward the retarded students, p less than .001. Results suggest that nonretarded students are the key to successful integration efforts.

Stereotypic hand gazing by very young severely disabled children was investigated. In Study 1 a dramatically increased therapy program substantially reduced a child's hand gazing and augmented his toy manipulation skills. In Study 2 specific interventions were prescribed for two children who were hand gazers and had significant yet correctable visual impairment. Both glasses and toys effectively reduced each child's hand-gazing. Results suggest that stereotypic hand gazing may be eliminated by intervention with very young children.

State mental retardation program directors in all 50 states were questioned on the status of hepatitis B screening and immunization programs in facilities for mentally retarded persons. Results from 43 states indicated serologic screening of selected residents and staff in 37 states and limited use of the new hepatitis B vaccine in 36 states, primarily in institutions and group homes. Not all states were sharing results of screening tests with school systems in which residents were enrolled. Attention should be addressed to the need for vaccination in community settings and the development of guidelines for schools in preventing the transmission of hepatitis B.

Aerophagia is a rarely recognized self-injurious behavior that consists of repetitive air swallowing with consequent belching, flatulence, and abdominal distention. The condition causes serious medical problems and can result in death. Possible causes of aerophagia and some attempts to treat it were reviewed briefly.

An independent replication of a previous study (Schroeder et al., 1985) of the effects of interactive social environmental factors on the relationship of lead and Stanford-Binet IQ was performed on 75 of 80 low-SES black children screened by county health departments in North Carolina. Children's mean blood lead (PbB) level was 20.8 micrograms/dl (range, 6.3 to 47.4). Multivariate regression analyses showed no significant interactions between PbB and age, sex, maternal IQ, Caldwell home environment score, or SES (Hollingshead Two-Factor Index). There was a highly significant negative relationship between both mean and maximum PbB levels with IQ, p less than .002; that is, IQ decreased linearly as PbB increased. The most accurate and precise regression model included lead, maternal IQ, home environment, and gender.

The relationship among four measures identified as operational definitions of learned helplessness was assessed in 44 mildly mentally retarded and 44 nonretarded children of equivalent mental age. Assessment of perseverance, response initiation, teacher perception of helplessness, and attributions for positive and negative achievement outcomes revealed an absence of corroboration in the two subgroups. The findings suggest that ability grouping and instrumentation are meaningful variables when evaluating learned helplessness in retarded and nonretarded students.