The refinement of the Williams syndrome phenotype has frequently included the study of behavioral and temperamental features common to individuals with this disorder. Within this line of research, the importance of evaluating incidence of psychopathology has been increasingly recognized, with studies consistently identifying an increased risk for…

In order to investigate unique and shared characteristics and to determine factors predictive of group classification, quantitative comparisons of behavioral and emotional problems were assessed using the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC-P) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales in autistic disorder, Williams syndrome (WS), and…

Background: Adolescence is a time when intense emotions are elicited within the parent-adolescent relationship, often when autonomy subjectively is endangered. As emotion dysregulation is one of the risk processes for the development of psychopathology, adolescence may be perceived as a highly sensitive period for maladjustment. Inter-individual…

Background: Kinship theory suggests that genomic imprinting could account for phenotypic behaviors that increase (in the case of Angelman syndrome) or decrease (for Prader-Willi syndrome) the drive to access social resources (adult contact) depending on the imprinting parent-of-origin. Difficult to manage behaviors, such as aggression that is…

Discusses insights discovered from research into human biology that are raising possibilities for therapy, prevention of disease, and challenges to society in the form of ethical decisions about the appropriate application of genetic information. (Author/RT)

Rulings on applications for animal patents being considered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could profoundly influence university patent and research income. Many animal-rights advocates have expressed philosophical objections to genetic engineering of animals. (MLW)

Discusses some of the major genetic information processes which may be modeled by computer program string manipulation, focusing on replication and transcription. Also discusses instructional applications of using string models. (JN)

The genetic study of ADHD has made considerable progress. Further developments in the field will be reliant in part on identifying the most appropriate phenotypes for genetic analysis. The use of both categorical and dimensional measures of symptoms related to ADHD has been productive. The use of multiple reporters is a valuable feature of the…

Author has spent a life-time working in the field of educational psychology and related disciplines. Here he focuses on the concept of intelligence. (Editor/RK)

Research in human genetics is now expanding rapidly, leading to increasingly precise ways of preventing or treating some of the 2,000 or more inherited disorders that afflict human beings. At the same time, it has produced a wealth of new ideas and techniques which are laying the groundwork for new medical science for the 21st century. Recent work…

It is argued that numerical peculiarities in Burt's reports of kinship correlations are more reasonably attributable to carelessness than to fraud. No analysis shows that Burt's results are biased so as to favor his theory, and they are in close agreement with numerous independent studies. (Author/AM)

The importance of cytogentic studies, including banding techniques, in moderately retarded individuals without significant physical anomalies was pointed out by the analysis of a moderately retarded 10 year old, non-Down's female. (BB)

Satisfaction with professional-client encounters was ascertained from 173 genetic counselors. Professional satisfaction was not associated with client learning of medical information or with discussion of items of greatest concern to clients. The major correlates were perceptions that they were communicating knowledge successfully. (Author/JOW)

Argues for unifying the conceptual frameworks of theories of evolution so that problems and their solutions in one theory may be transposed and explored in the others. The argument is used to reconsider the mutationist and Darwinian theories of evolution in the light of Piaget's nonstandard theory of evolution. (Author/RH)