The purpose of the present investigation was to study the effect of stimulus selectivity on the learning of discriminative stimuli in children with mental retardation. Transfer effects on shift learning were examined, comparing children with and without mental retardation. Five groups of 24 preschool children with MA 3, 4, or 5 years, and 16 children with mental retardation with MA 4 or 5 years, were trained on component shift tasks to a criterion of 10 successive correct responses. In initial learning, subjects should discriminate a predetermined stimulus from a pair presented, with a single component of the stimuli as independent subproblems. In shift learning, the subjects should discriminate a predetermined stimulus from a pair presented, with compound stimuli consisting of the initially positive components of the stimuli. Subjects were told whether they were correct ("you got it") or incorrect ("you missed"). The main results were as follows: (1) The subjects' response pattern shifted from one look to multiple looks, depending on their chronological age. (2) The MA 5 years group met the criterion in significantly fewer trials than the MA 4 years group. (3) The stimulus selectivity scores of the children without mental retardation decreased as their mental age increased. (4) With the form component stimuli, it was shown that the number of correct responses was significantly higher in MA 5 years children without mental retardation than it was in such children with MA 3 or 4 years. On the other hand, the number of correct responses was signifficantly higher in MA 4 years children with mental retardation than in MA 3 years children without mental retardation or MA 5 years children with mental retardation, but lower than in MA 5 years children without mental retardation. (5) For color component stimuli, the results suggested that the number of correct responses increased with mental age. (6) From the analysis of the response patterns, complex responses increased according to this order: (a) MA 3 years children without mental retardation, (b) MA 4 years children with mental retardation, (c) MA 5 years children with mental retardation, (d) MA 4 years children without mental retardation, and (e) MA 5 years children without mental retardation. Single response types decreased according to the order mentioned above. The results were discussed in terms of Attention Theory.

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This research aimed to illuminate the unique characteristics in the developmental process of children with autism, through a comparison of this process in children with autism and with mental retardation. The 214 subjects with autism, ranging in age from 2 to 12 years, were matched on age and level of mental development with non-autistic children with mental retardation. In order to evaluate the children's development, their mothers were asked to fill out the Tsumori Developmental Schedule for both 1- to 3- and 3- to 7-year-old children. The percentage of items achieved was caluculated for each of the 314 items in the Schedule, divided according to age group, and graphed on a single set of axes. For each group, those items were selected on which the increase in score was greater for almost all age groups in comparison to the other type of subjects. For each of the five categories, "motor", "inquiry", "socialization", "self-help", and "language", the mean percentage of items achieved was also compared graphically. From these analyses, the results were as follows: (1) The largest difference in the percentage of achievement between the children with autism and with mental retardation was found in "socialization"; the smallest difference, in "language". (2) However, the language items on which the children with autism had a high percentage of achievement reflected "splinter abilities," while, in contrast, their achievement scores were low on items that evaluated the level of interaction with another person or the degree of understanding of another's emotional state. The analysis of the items on which the children with autism performed well showed a rapid increase between the ages of 6 and 8. This would seem to indicate that a rapid developmental stage exists for children with autism.

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Adults who had been health-impaired in childhood were studied to examine their remembered and current attitudes toward any mental problems caused by those health problems. The purpose of the study was to gather reports on how they coped with their difficulties and the efforts they made to overcome them. The time periods covered included elementary and junior high school ages, senior high school and after, and the present. Questionnaires were mailed; data were usable from the responses of 305 men and 180 women, 20 to 42 years old. The main results were as follows: (1) Regardless of subjects' gender or the time period covered, mental problems increased in proportion to the severity of the health problem, while the amount of coping behavior increased in proportion to the increase in mental problems. (2) The "high" group of mental problems was classified into four types with respect to the change in the subjects' attitudes toward their mental problems. Some factors that affect their attitudes toward these mental problems were found in their descriptions of the influence on their health impairment on their lives.

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The relationship of Stage VI of Piaget's sensorimotor period to the acquisition of meaningful expressive language in children with mental retardation was investigated using both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods. In the present study "expressive language acquisition" is used to refer to the condition in which a child can answer when he or she is asked the names of objects. Subjects, 25 children with mental retardation, were tested individually. Their average chronological age was 48.5 months, ranging from 24-78 months, and their average developmental age was 20.2 months, ranging from 8.4 to 34 months. The sensorimotor scale used (Miller et al., 1980), consists of 5 subscales: Object Permanence, Means-Ends, Causality, Space, and Schemes in Relation to Objects. The hypothesis was that subjects who were able to give the names of objects had passed Stage VI of the sensorimotor period on all 5 subscales. To test this hypothesis, an additional 16 children with mental retardation were tested on sensorimotor intelligence and language development. These children's average chronological age was 45.3 months, ranging from 28 to 59 months, and their average developmental quotient was 45.6, SD, 13.71. The assessment was done once a month for 16.6 months, on the average. The results were as follows: (1) Subjects who are below Stage V on two or more subscales do not acquire expressive language. (2) Subjects who can acquire expressive language have passed Stage VI on at last 4 or more subscales. But not all the subjects who passed Stage VI on all subscales could acquire expressive language. The conclusions are as follows: It is difficult for children to acquire expressive language unless they have reached the sensorimotor level to some degree. However, although Stage VI is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient for the acquisition of expressive language. In addition, the following results were found in the development of sensorimotor intelligence in children with mental retardation: (1) The patterns of development of sensorimotor intelligence correspond to the degree of retardation (severe, moderate, or mild retardation). (2) In the areas of Object Permanence and Schemes in Relation to Objects, it is apt to take more time to reach Stage VI than in the areas of Means-Ends and Space.

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The Draw-A-Man Development Test is a standardized intelligence test that has been used in clinical work with children with mental retardation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the concurrent validity of the Draw-A-Man Development Test with children with mental retardation in order to analyze the relationships among the Draw-A-Man Development Test, the WISC-R, and the Bender Gestalt Test. Subjects were 50 children with mental retardation who were attending schools and classes for children with disabilities. They were between 7 years 3 months and 15 years 8 months old; their mean chronological age was 11 years 6 months. Their WISC-R IQs ranged from 21 to 76, with a mean of 31. The relations among IQs on the Draw-A-Man Development Test, WISC-R and Bender Gestalt were analyzed by use of Pearson's correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis, and partial correlation. The results, based on the children's drawings of a male figure, were as follows: (1) IQs on the Bender Gestalt Test did correlate with IQs on the Draw-A-Man Development Test (0.565), and that correlation was higher than the correlations between IQs on the WISC-R and the Draw-A-Man Development Test. All correlations were statistically significant. (2) In the partial correlation analysis, the correlation coefficient between IQs on the Bender Gestalt Test and the Draw-A-Man Development Test (0.506) was the only significant one. The multiple regression analysis also showed that performance IQ, verbal IQ and full IQ were not significant explanatory variables. These results demonstrated that, with children with mental retardation, the Draw-A-Man Development Test is not an intelligence test, but rather a visual-motor test. In addition to above analyses of the children's drawings of the male figure, their drawings of a female figure were subjected to the same analyses, to confirm the validity of the female figure, self-sex figure and opposite-sex figure. The results and the conclusions from these additional analyses were much the same as those for the male figure.

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In the early education of infants with hearing impairments, dancing to songs is often used in auditory and speech training. Prosodic features, an important aspect of speech, especially for children with hearing impairments, are based on the perception of intensity, fundamental frequency, and duration. These elements are commonly used in the perception of music. Therefore, in the present study, in expectation of the stimulating effect of musical training on speech training, it was planned to train children to control their voice pitch using a musical scale display, and to combine the training of voice-pitch control systematically with that of word accent and sentence intonation. Using a visual display of time-variation in the fundamental frequency of speech, 5 children between 4 and 5 years old, with moderate or severe hearing impairments, were trained on utterances of word accent and sentence intonation. In the first stage of training, controlling the pitch of the voice from high to low, or low to high, was trained, using the musical scale for the display of the fundamental frequency of the speech. Then the children were trained to speak with word accent and sentence intonation, monitoring their voice pitch on a display of time-varying curve on a logarithmic scale of fundamental frequency. The children were able to achieve normal speaking with a rather short period of training. Based on the observation of the process of their progress, a practical procedure of training voice-pitch control by the use of visual display is proposed. The method of selecting speech materials that are suitable for training word accent and sentence intonation in the utterances of hearing-impaired children is also discussed.

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Motor-Action Training, a training method effective in modifying the posture of children with cerebral palsy and in teaching them precise body movements, is thought to also have substantial effects for children with autism and retardation, in improving their interpersonal relations and controlling their inappropriate behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Motor-Action Training on a child with severe retardation, using objective indices of improvement. A 9-year-old girl with many inappropriate behaviors was trained daily by her mother. From data taken from videotaped records, the effects of the training were evaluated. Indices measured during 5 minutes' arm-lifting-control training were: (1) The frequency of 5 inappropriate behaviors, (2) the frequency of eye contact with the trainer, and (3) the amount of time the child's voice was raised. Other indices were: (4) the manner of playing with toys, measured during a 5-minute period in which the child was alone, (5) the frequency of smiling and looking in the mother's eyes, measured during a 5-minute period in which the mother and child played together, and (6) the process of postural change. Eye contact (# 2) and raising the voice (# 3) were the appropriate, or goal, behaviors. Indices # 1 through # 3 were used to evaluate improvement in the training situation; indices # 4 and # 5, improvement in daily life. As a result of the training, the behaviors improved. In the training situation, the frequency of inappropriate behaviors decreased, while the frequency of the goal behaviors increased. In the play situations, the frequency of eye contact with the mother, and the frequency of smiling both increased. In addition, the child's posture was modified by the training. The results of the present study objectively substantiate the effects of Motor-Action Training that had been reported from subjective observations of the behavior.

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