This study reviewed the literature on the clinical features of Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, looking for evidence that a tendency toward violence is common in individuals with the syndrome. Although many studies were excluded on the basis of inadequate data, findings of remaining studies did not support the speculation that violence is…

Paralinguistic behaviors, including speech rates and turn-taking behaviors, of five-year-old boys who stutter (n=11) and boys who do not stutter (n=11) and their fathers were investigated. No significant differences were found in comparisons of the two groups of fathers or of the two groups of children for any of the paralinguistic behaviors.…

Although the belief that women are not socialized to be competitive is widely held, research findings in this area are not conclusive. To compare the behaviors and the perceptions of behavior in men and women in a realistic setting, 180 students participated in a 2-hour, two-part simulated job interview that required either competitive or neutral…

The selection of acts from the stream of infant behavior is examined. Adults (140 mothers, fathers, and other men and women) viewed videotapes of 9-, 15-, and 21-month-old infants. One half noted meaningful acts; the other half noted intentionally communicative acts. Parents selected more meaningful acts than nonparents and agreed more about…

In response to a previous article proposing perceptual reinforcement of stereotyped movements in autistic and mentally retarded persons, it is argued that this theory fails to take into account biological findings and theory regarding pathological stereotyped acts. An alternative theory derived from neurological concepts is suggested. (Author/DB)

The authors respond to criticism of their paper proposing a perceptual reinforcement of stereotyped movements in autistic and mentally retarded persons. The alternative theory based on neurobiological factors is judged to be insufficiently detailed and inadequate in scope. (Author/DB)

Examines the relations of Type A scores of parents to Type A scores of their children. Parent-child correlations were found for father-son pairs. (PCB)

Interviews with parents of 30 school-age girls with fragile X syndrome (fraX) and 31 age- and IQ-matched controls concerning autistic behaviors found that girls with fraX had significantly more autistic behaviors than controls, but incidence of autistic behaviors was not correlated with IQ. Anxiety and posterior cerebellar area measures were also…

The study compared the attention-directing behaviors of 15 autistic children, 14 children with developmental language delay, and 13 young normal children. Although the autistic children's behavior was most unlike that of the other groups, autistic children did not produce more attention-directing behavior when a high degree of adult direction was…

This study assessed the validity of idiosyncratic choice-making behaviors of three children with multiple disabilities. Children were given either their "choice" of food or drink or were given the opposite. Direct observations of children's acceptance or refusal revealed the children consistently indicated choices during both conditions.…

An investigation was conducted of the displayed biobehavioral states of 5 students (ages 8-20) with profound mental retardation. Results indicated that state level can be reliably specified and that overall state characteristics can be used to classify subjects according to profile groups. (Author/JDD)

This analysis of nine young adult males with Down's syndrome found that subjects had great difficulty in completing a skilled motor-perceptual task. Compared to controls, they were much slower, less accurate, and achieved fewer target performances. These behavioral patterns were associated with movement-related brain macropotentials altered in…

Research has shown that females gaze more than males while speaking and listening regardless of the sex of their partner. To determine if these differences are due to biological sex or sex role, 24 dyads, in which subjects were matched on sex and sex role, conversed for 10 minutes while patterns of speech and gaze were recorded by two judges.…

Much of the sex role research published in the late seventies was concerned with measuring masculinity and femininity, based on stereotyped trait ratings using tests like the Bem Sex Role Inventory or the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In response to the need for a wider variety of measures, the Activities Inventory (AI), a checklist of…

Protection motivation theory proposes that a perceived threat to health activates cognitive appraisals of the severity of the threatened event, the probability of its occurrence, and the efficacy of a coping response; a recent reformulation of the theory incorporates self-efficacy expectancy as a fourth mediating cognitive process. To test the…