Pooled sibling attachment data to compare attachment relationships to mothers for 138 sibling pairs. Found that sibling relationships were significantly concordant when classified as secure/nonsecure but not when further subcategorized. Maternal insensitivity to both siblings was associated with concordance of sibling nonsecurity. Same gender…

Three articles discuss "The Bell Curve" and its theory that IQ is an inherited trait rather than an acquired skill. Topics include implications for educational designers, IQ tests, cognitive architecture, learning mechanisms, and abstract knowledge structures. (LRW)

Argues that the sociobiological argument (i.e., that suicide is associated with reduced reproductive potential) seems to have little explanatory value and to misrepresent the variability in cross-cultural patterning of suicidal behavior. Proposes a biocultural theory of suicide which addresses both the specific situational stressors and the…

A revolution in genetics is occurring, but when looking ahead, we must not romanticize the past. The social history of genetics, and American education's association with eugenics, make it necessary that we understand that both education and science are informed by social attitudes. (MT)

Measures of general cognitive ability in one- and two-year-old adopted and nonadopted infants and their parents were subjected to path analysis to estimate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to short-term stability of mental ability. (Author/RH)

Describes how black scholars countered racist conclusions from mental test data and highlights the black critique by focusing upon the decade when the nature/nurture controversy was at its zenith. The paradox of blacks' simultaneous critique and use of mental tests is explored in relationship to problems raised in the sociology of knowledge. (RH)

Examines recent developments in the American debate over heredity and environment. (RM)

Describes the methodological and statistical criteria neccessary for adequate measurement of organism-environment correlations and presents a path anaysis model as an approach to the study of these correlations. (BD)

Describes a methodology of behavior genetics in the context of twin and sibling/adoption design. This model was applied to cross-sectional data on cognitive development throughout the lifespan. Results from a twin and adoption study of general intelligence are presented to illustrate the use of the basic behavior genetic model in studying causes…

Social scientists are often concerned that research on biological causes of behavior will encourage biologically-based public policy. By simultaneously examining both social and biological causes of behavior, biosocial research models prevent simplistic biological thinking. Concludes that biosocial models clarify ethical problems rather than…

This article reviews and critiques the research on possible genetic factors in stuttering. The failure to consider epidemiologic factors is thought to have biased previous research, but recent data provide evidence that spontaneous recovery and chronicity are influenced by genetic factors. Findings support previous conclusions about combined…

In contrast to the hypothesis that dyslexics possess phonological deficits of neurological origin, the paper proposes that the source of the deficit is primarily experiential. Evidence from normal reading and spelling development as well as from comparisons of dyslexic and nondyslexic readers is offered. (Author/DB)

In response to Coles (EC 220 146), the article examines evidence of the roles of intrinsic biological characteristics and the environment in learning disability and suggests that learning disability is a biological susceptibility manifested in an environment promoting its expression. (DB)

Data from 148 identical and 111 fraternal twin pairs in which at least 1 member had a reading disability were statistically analyzed. Results suggest that genetic and shared-environment influences both contribute to the observed covariance between reading and mathematical deficits. (Author/DB)

Correlations on subscales of Wechsler intelligence quotient tests and the Revised Beta Examination were obtained for biologically related and unrelated individuals in 181 adoptive families in the Texas Adoption Project. Generally higher correlations for biologically related individuals support the importance of genetic influence in intellectual…