The present study aimed to clarify the developmental relation between counting skills and the verbal regulation of behavior. Participants, 51 children with intellectual disabilities (CA 6:0-14:0, MA 3:0-6:6) and 50 children without disabilities (CA 3:0-6:6), were given several tasks. In one (counting task), a line of disks was placed on a table, and the children were asked to say how many disks there were. In another (producing small sets), the children were instructed to remove 3, 5, or 7 disks from a set of 10 disks. Verbal regulation of behavior was evaluated by asking the children to press a button following an auditory or visual stimulus. Other tasks involved counting events that could be heard but not seen. The developmental sequence of attainment on these tasks was evaluated by the method of ordering analysis. The results were as follows: For the children with intellectual disabilities, attainment of the task of producing sets of 3 items preceded the attainment of the verbal regulation of responding with a button-press. The attainment of regulation of responding with a button-press, as well as of counting sounds, preceded the attainment of producing sets of 7 items. In the children without disabilities, attainment of verbal regulation of responding preceded attainment of the tasks of producing sets of 3 and 5 items. Classroom implications of these results were discussed.

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The present study analyzed the relation between experience with educational integration, contact with individuals with mental retardation, and attitudes toward people with mental retardation. Participants in the study were 79 university students. The dependent variables were attitude scores on "practical good will," "affirmation of ability," "integration in the classroom," "integration in the community," and "ideal good will." The main results were as follows: (1) experience with educational integration was found to be related to attitudes about "integration in the classroom" and "integration in the community"; (2) contact with individuals with mental retardation was found to be related to all the attitude measures used in the present study.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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