This article notes a current de-emphasis on genetic syndromes in published articles concerning mental retardation despite major deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) advances in determining mental retardation causes. The article calls for incorporation of these genetic advances into behavioral research of mental retardation, especially as reflected in the…

Presents an exercise that demonstrates the chromosome-gene-protein connection using sickle-cell anemia, a genetic disease with a well-characterized molecular basis. Involves connecting changes in DNA to protein outcomes and tying them into the next generation by meiosis and gamete formation with genetic crosses. Motivates students to integrate…

Introduces a special section of five articles that highlight new collaborative research opportunities for developmental psychologists and other biomedical researchers. Such research has focused on the transition from fetus to newborn, evaluation of early toxin exposure, and the behavioral phenotype associated with genetic syndromes. (MDM)

Discusses the Human Genome Project and the identification of Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation. Fragile X Syndrome is caused by an abnormal gene on the bottom of the X chromosome. Examined the phenotype of Fragile X Syndrome in males and females and the spectrum of learning difficulties caused by the…

Provides laboratory exercises that demonstrate two genetic concepts: the difference between a genetic selection and a genetic screening experiment, and the relationship between phenotype and genotype. (SAH)

Discussion of Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder with a variety of medical and developmental features, focuses on frequent outward expression of happiness. Analysis of the unique expression of happiness in individuals with Williams syndrome is followed by discussion of this happiness in the context of other dimensions of the syndrome,…

This article discusses inheritance patterns in hearing loss, epidemiology, clues to genetic causes, locating genes that cause hereditary disorders, genes related to hearing loss disorders in individuals with Usher syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, Treacher-Collins syndrome, Branchio-oto-renal and Pendred syndromes, and the significance of finding…

Presents a game that was created to loosely simulate the process of genetic material exchange and to illustrate how two simple sets of genes can lead to much variability. (ASK)

Themes identified by genetics professionals (n=162) and suggestions of 45 nursing faculty participating in a genetics summer institute formed the basis of recommendations for genetics education in nursing. Expected clinical outcomes, curriculum strategies, content, and resources were identified. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

Examination of methodological issues in the design and interpretation of studies on the genetics of reading disability suggests three tests of increasing rigor for determining whether reading score distributions are categorical and thus not subject to analyses which assume a continuous normal distribution. Also noted are interactive relationships…

Objective: To consider the research design requirements needed to provide a rigorous test of environmental mediation hypotheses and to summarize the main findings from research using such designs. Method: Selective review of empirical evidence dealing with psychopathology. Results: There is robust evidence of environmentally mediated risks for…

Objective: This study was designed to examine the role of DNA variants of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) in smoking experimentation in adolescents and to determine the extent to which novelty seeking (NS) could account for a possible effect of DRD4 on tobacco use. Method: Participants were from a longitudinal study of an original birth…

Background: Twin research has consistently shown substantial genetic influence on individual differences in cognitive ability; however, much less is known about the genetic and environmental aetiologies of school achievement. Aims: Our goal is to test the hypotheses that teacher-assessed achievement in the early school years shows substantial…

This paper reviews several genetic syndromes that are associated with intellectual disability. The specific focus is on the behavioural patterns associated with the syndrome. Included in this review are the patterns of disruptive behaviour disorders associated with Fragile X, Prader-Willi, and Williams syndromes. Understanding and recognition of…

The authors conducted 4 studies suggesting that children attribute different modes of transmission to genetic disorders and contagious illnesses. Study 1 presented preschoolers through 5th graders and adults with "switched-at-birth" scenarios for various disorders. Study 2 presented preschoolers with the same disorders but used contagion links in…